


Double Agent

by CollateralDamage666



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Betrayal, Equalist, Equalist!Character, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CollateralDamage666/pseuds/CollateralDamage666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amon is the talk of the town and the man of nightmares. Korra and her group try furiously to find a way to stop him, but he's always one step ahead. It isn't until they receive an anonymous note with information regarding how he always knows. They have a spy amongst them and now suddenly everyone is suspect.<br/>Short chapters for quick updates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Rally

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something that grew out of control in my heads and wouldn't shut up until I wrote it. So, here's the first chapter. I'm going to be writing small chapters, so it will come in bursts, but it should come out faster that way... I don't know. Hopefully it will, though. I already have a later chapter written. It's the chapter that is the whole reason why I'm writing this story so I really can't wait until we reach that point.
> 
> Hope you like this chapter, even though it's so short and is basically just the end of episode 3.

"Uh… Hello, Amon, sir. I think there's been a big misunderstanding," Bolin smiled, tapping his fingers together in a nervous matter, as the masked man turned to stare at him. There was a disturbance out in the crowd, but his eyes remained locked on Amon, who took a step towards him. An explosion sounded from the side of the room as one of the machines on the wall let out steam. The mist began to envelope the room and Bolin watched as Amon stepped back into the cover, disappearing from sight.

Running footsteps sounded from behind the earthbender but before he could turn to see who it was, an arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him back into a hold. Suddenly the hold loosened as he felt the masked man wrenched away from him. He took a step away from the scuffle to turn back just in time to see his brother throw the man off the stage. Mako turned to him, his brow creased in worry.

"Bolin, are you alright?"

"Yes! Mako, I love you!" He shouted in glee, clasping his hands together as the fear rushed from his body at the sight of his brother and the disappearance of Amon.

Together, then ran through the mist, searching for an exit before throwing open a door and running out into the night air. They started down the ladder, but footsteps coming towards the ladder made them pause their escape. Mako waiting, hoping that it was Korra, but knowing that it would be stupid to think it was her. She was in a whole different part of the building.

As he had expected, someone much different stared down at them: Amon's right-hand man. He stared at them for a split second before twirling his kali sticks, electricity running through them. He slammed them down on the ladder and electricity coursed through it. The brothers let out screams of pain as they felt it surge through their bodies, making them lose their hold on the ladder and tumble down to the ground below.

The recovered quickly, getting back up to their feet to fight against the man. The fight lasted less than a minute, the man quickly over powering them through his agility and skills, finishing them by electrocuting them, watching their limp bodies fall to the ground. Bolin's eyesight dotted in front of him as he blinked furiously, demanding his limbs to do as he commanded them to.

"You benders need to understand. There's no place in the world for you anymore," someone spoke, the man. His voice was low and gravelly as he stood over them, both of them feeling too weak to do anything. Before Mako could curse him out, earth rose in front of the man, slamming into his chest and sending him flying back into the wall, cracking the generator on his back. He fell to the ground and struggled to get back to his feet, his arms straining.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet," relief rushed though the brothers as they heard Korra's voice. The man's arms gave and he collapsed back to the ground. She whistled for her friend, the polar bear dog, calling its name. The creature ran down to her with a bark as she went to go help Mako off the ground. More Eqalists were pouring out of the building now, flipping off the platform to join them on the ground below. Bolin finally managed to sit up, just in time to see Naga racing toward him, jaws open, sharp teeth fully exposed.

He let out a not so manly scream as the beast lunged at him, his arms held up in defense. The pet merely grabbed him by the back of his jacket, holding it in her mouth as they made their escape. Bolin jostled with each bound the creature took, his feet dragging along behind him.

"Gah! Stop. I want. To be. On. Your back. Please!" he said with each step of the creature, but to no avail. He glanced back, or at least tried to. It was hard to see past the lumbering beast, with its flurry of limbs and tail, to the followers. They turned the corner and the Equalists were no longer in their line of sight. But, even then, he never saw them following. Someone had held them back. He waited a little longer of being dragged around by Naga before he finally spoke up to the two on her back.

"Hey, um… do you think I can be on her back now?"

Korra gave a curt command to Naga and they skid to a stop. The jaw of the polar bear dog opened, releasing Bolin from her grasp and he fell to the ground with a grunt, setting himself up on his elbows once he got all the air back into his lungs. He twisted to see the two staring down at him, Korra with a concerned expression and Mako looking like he was about to laugh.

"Thank, guys. I've always wanted to be dragged down streets by a polar bear dog," he got to his feet, dusting himself off and immediately got licked by a gigantic tongue. He looked through the saliva at Naga, who just seemed to smile at him, "Licked by one, too."

This time Mako did laugh and Korra joined right along with him, "Sorry, Bolin. We just had to get out of there quickly and I guess Naga though that that was the best way, didn't ya, girl?" She leaned forward and scratched the top of Naga's head. The creature sighed in relief, leaning into the scratch. Bolin couldn't stop the smile that spread over his face at the scene. He, too, reached out a hesitant hand to place it on the beast's muzzle.

"Thanks, Naga. For getting us out of there."

"Oh, great. Now you've found another animal to talk to besides Pabu," Mako groaned, "I'll never hear the end of this."

"You're just jealous you have no friends," Bolin teased as he climbed on the saddle, Mako scooting back a little so he could sit between them. They started moving again, back towards the arena so Korra could drop them off before she went back to her own home.

"Jealous of what? That's like being jealous of people that have imaginary friends, Bo," But Mako couldn't keep the smile out of his voice. His brother was safe, bending and all.


	2. Nightmares

A creak sounded from somewhere in their apartment and immediately Mako was fully awake, his survival senses coming back to life. They weren't alone in their apartment anymore. His eyes flashed back to the rally with the Equalists. Amon's mask flashed through his mind. In the bed over, Bolin grumbled something in his sleep, his brows knitted together as he tossed and turned. A nightmare?

Another creak sounded, this time accompanied with the undeniable pad of a footstep nearing the base of the ladder up to the loft where their beds were. He rolled out of his bed, placing his feet gently on the floor so they made no noise. He swept back the blankets without even a swish as the material moved. He was so used to this by now, his time on the streets coming back to him when he had to get him and his brother out of danger in a moment's notice.

A clunk rang through the apartment as they placed a foot on the ladder, accompanied by a soft curse. He frowned. Whoever it was, they were trying to be quiet and sneaky, but it wasn't really working for them. An amateur, maybe? Definitely not an Equalist, then. Those people had moved like they were water or shadows.

They were close to the top now, their shadow peeking up over the loft. With swift movements he lunged towards the intruder. He heard a squeak of surprise come from whoever it was as he moved in front of the ladder. He reached down, grabbing them by the back of their shirt and lifted them up into the loft, flipping them over his shoulder and throwing them to the ground. The air in their lungs left them as they slammed into the wooden floor. Mako placed his knees on either side of them, his fist raised threateningly.

Bolin jerked awake at that moment, screaming something about "the ladder of peril," but Mako ignored him, his entire attention focused on the form under him. A fire sparked to life on his fist, lighting up the area and he found himself jerking back in shock at who he found underneath him.

"Korra? What the heck are you doing here?" He growled, adrenaline still coursing through his body, but his lowered his fist, choosing to just have a soft fire floating in the palm of his hand instead. He rose back up to his feet and backed off, holding out a hand for her to help her up. She took it and rose stiffly to her feet, stretching her bruised back. Her hair was a mess, clumps spilling out of their usual holds and dark circles were under her eyes.

"Jeez, Mako. Did you really need to throw me to the ground?" She growled back, not even bothering to answer his question.

"I thought you were someone else; An Equalist or a thief. What else was I supposed to do? Throw them a party?"

She looked away, pouting. Bolin was staring at both of them, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he tried to discern the situations.

"So why are you here, Korra?" He asked, getting to his feet.

She suddenly looked meek, her eyes refusing to meet either of theirs and instead trained on her feet, where she was flexing her toes inside her boots.

"I couldn't sleep," she finally mumbled out, so quiet that they almost couldn't hear her.

"You what?" Mako asked, raising his eyebrows, "So you thought maybe we didn't sleep, either?"

"Oh, shut up you jerk," she huffed out, curling her hands into fists by her side, "I can't sleep because I keep having nightmares," her whole body relaxed again, "Nightmares of Amon taking my bending away."

It was quiet in the room for a few seconds while Mako realized it was his turn to look meek for what he had said to her. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, Bolin's voice floated over to them through the air.

"I have nightmares about that, too," he answered, taking a timid step towards them, "I was so close to having my bending taken away. I never got to truly thank you for saving me, Korra."

"No need, Bolin. I was just helping a friend out," a ghost of a smile flickered over her lips, but it never met her eyes.

"Why are you here?" Mako asked, softer this time.

"Well I was- you see- well-" she pursed her lips, blowing her cheeks up, "I should just head back. Never mind. I'm sorry I came over here. You guys go back to sleep-"

Before she could finish, Bolin reached out and grabbed her by the arm. She looked over at him, staring him right in the eye.

"You wanna stay here for the night?" He asked, hoping she would say yes. As soon as he saw relief flood through her body, he knew he had asked just what she had wanted. She gave him a small nod of her head and he couldn't keep back the grin that spread over his face. He looked over at Mako, who looked apprehensive about the whole thing. He opened his mouth as though to protest against it, his body rising up to his full height before he let out a sigh, letting his body slouch back over again in defeat.

"Fine, but just this one night, okay?"

"Woohoo!" Bolin screamed, throwing his fists into the air, "Sleepover!"

He raced over to his bed and pushed it over until it was flush with Mako's.

"This "sleepover" has emphasis on the "sleep" part, got it?" Mako said, pointing a finger at both of them in turn, getting excited nods from them. He let out another sight and started down the ladder to grab a pillow off the couch for Korra. By the time he had returned, Bolin had already moved all the blankets so they stretched across the whole length of the beds now.

"Here, Korra," Mako said, getting her attention, "You can use this for a pillow," he threw it over to her and she caught it easily with a smile.

"Thanks, Mako," she turned to look at Bolin, "And you, too, Bolin. Thanks."

"You're sleeping in the middle, okay?" Mako sighed, getting back to his part of the bed, lying on his side as close the edge as he dared.

"Party pooper," he heard Bolin whisper, accompanied by a giggle from Korra.

* * *

When Mako woke up the next morning, he blinked at the ceiling a few time before he realized just why his chest was so heavy. A mess of limbs were thrown over him, both Korra's and Bolin's as they slept chaotically. Korra's hair was spilling all around her. It seemed like she had loosened it all before she went to sleep, as the blue clasps were nowhere to be seen. Bolin's hair was a mess, too, poofing out over his face instead of being in its usual combed back position.

He gently moved the arms and legs off of him, edging his way out of the bed as quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake them. Knowing both of them, they would wake up later when the smell of food met their sleeping forms. As soon as he managed to squirm out from under them and out to freedom, the shifted, trying to accommodate for the loss of his warmth. The cuddled up to each other, one of Bolin's arms lying over her as she brought her hands up to clutch at the front of his shirt, pulling her face into his chest.

It reminded him of when they had been searching for Bolin and had fallen asleep under the tree together. He remembered waking up to her leaning against him and their reactions afterwards as they quickly pulled away from each other. He smiled at the thought, staring down at his brother and Korra. Boy, were they in for a shock when they woke up. Bigger than the last one she had gotten. His grin widened as he climbed down the ladder at the thought.


	3. Secret Message

Korra let out another deep sigh and the brothers looked up at her before exchanging glances amongst themselves, silently egging the other on to ask her what was wrong. Finally the silent war between them ended, with Bolin as the loser.

"What's up?" He asked the distraught girl, dunking Pabu back into the tub of water, much to the creature's annoyance.

She pouted, blowing air up that ruffled her bangs, "It's the stupid Equalists. They're always once step ahead of the task force now," she leaned forward, throwing the newspaper she had been reading onto the table in front of her. It fluttered open to the classifieds and she propped her legs up on the table, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Remember how I told you guys and Asami how we were going to raid that warehouse last week?"

"Yeah," Mako answered, stirring the soup he was cooking, "You were trying to make it sound exciting and like you were looking forward to it, but your facial expression was saying anything but that."

She pouted deeper and Bolin looked away, aware that a blush was forming on his cheeks at her expression. He went back to furiously cleaning Pabu a little rougher than was probably necessary.

"I told Tenzin and Lin about it, too, and they both told me that it was a stupid thing to do. Guess I should have listened to them because when we got there, the warehouse was completely cleared. No Equalists, no Amon. There wasn't even an elephant rat in the whole building!" She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, "We're going to another one tomorrow night, remember? I bet that's all cleared out, too," she leaned back,

Bolin pulled Pabu out of the water and started cleaning the critter off, softly scrubbing the fur dry. He scooped it up in the towel and walked over to Korra. She looked up at him, her pout back and her eyes skeptical as to what he was going to do. He paused in front of her, everyone's eyes on him. Then, with a giant flourish, he threw the towel open, sending Pabu flying straight towards Korra's face. She let out a little shriek as the damp animal catapulted toward her. But her screams soon turned to bouts of laughter as Pabu crawled on top of her head, leaning down to lick her on the forehead.

She brought up her pointer finger to scratch the small critter on top of its head, a smile spreading across her face, "Thanks, Bolin," Pabu let out a little chirp, getting another laugh out of Korra, "Sorry, Pabu. Thanks to you, too."

Bolin smiled and flicked the towel over his shoulder, walking back to the tub of water. Mako continued stirring the soup shaking his head slightly at their antics.

"Hey, Korra?" She looked up from Pabu, who was currently curling up in her arms. Bolin scratched the back of his neck as he looked at her with a sheepish smile, "Do you think you could waterbend this water out into the bay. I don't want to walk down the steps with it like I usually do, as it doesn't end well most of the time."

When Mako snorted at his words, Korra could basically figure out what happened, "What's the matter, Bolin? You don't like taking a bath in fire ferret water?"

"No, not really," he smiled as she stood up, Pabu curling over her shoulders like a scarf, his tail fluffed up. He lifted up the tub and carried it over to the open window. She lifted her hands and he watched in awe at her movements, so very different from those of a firebender's or earthbenders. She moved like the very water she was bending, looking completely in sync with her element. She was beautiful.

He blushed furiously at the thought and stumbled forward, tripping over a discarded shoe. Immediately, her concentration was shattered as he fell to the ground the tub and all its water landing on his head. For once he was grateful for the cool water as it turned down the heat in his cheeks. He tilted the metal tub back from his eyes and grinned up at them, embarrassed.

Mako just brought his hand up to his face, shaking his head as he turned from his brother as through he had never seen the boy before in his life. Korra let out a little snicker before should help herself and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't laugh," her grin was widening under her palm, "But- oh my spirits! That was hilarious!" She tilted her head back and let out a cackle before calming down a bit again and water bending the liquid off of his. She twisted it out of the window finally, her body still shaking with silent laughter.

"I'm glad that my pain and embarrassment can amuse you, Korra," he said, smiling up at her as he got in a seated position.

"Hey, you two idiots," Mako said from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready."

"Yes! Meat! You have no idea how long I have missed eating meat. I don't know how Tenzin and his family do it. It's like eating grass for every meal," she exclaimed, hopping over to where Mako was scooping soup into bowls, a small smile on his face at her words. Bolin felt his face heat up again and he quickly shook his head, dispelling any thoughts that involved Korra and how beautiful she was and- oh, he really wasn't good at this.

"Come on, Bo, or we're eating your portion, too. Korra here is probably able to eat the whole soup because she's a bigger meat eater than a cow hippo-" he was cut short by a quick uppercut from Korra, her fist hitting him teasingly in the stomach, but he still doubled over all the same. Sometimes that girl didn't know her own strength. Bolin snatched the newspaper from where Korra had thrown it, planning to use it for reading material while he ate his portion, as he was sure Korra and Mako were going to have an argument the whole time just for Mako's comment.

He got his bowl and settled down comfortably on his usual stretch of the sofa, the others taking their respective areas with Korra inbetween them, her legs propped up on the table in front of her, like usual. He spread the newspaper spread out over his lap so he could peer down at it while he ate his soup. It was still open to the classifieds from when Korra had thrown it. He was about to take his first spoonful, when his eye caught one of the classifieds.

"Ah, cute!" Both of them looked over at him, half expecting him to be talking to Pabu, "There's a wedding proposal in the classifieds today."

"How is that cute? Sounds cheap to me," Korra asked, slurping down her soup.

"It's awkwardly cute. It makes you wonder. Is the one asking just so socially awkward that he doesn't have the guts to do it to her face or are they both socially awkward and this is just the way to go for them?"

"Still sounds cheap to me."

Bolin pouted and mumbled under his breath, "Well I still think it's cute."

Suddenly Korra stopped eating as her eyes widened. She shoved her bowl at Mako, who took it, his own bowl sloshing dangerously. He opened his mouth ready to yell at her when she snatched the newspaper off Bolin's lap, peering at it intensely.

"What? You getting proposal lessons?" Mako said, placing her bowl on the table, like she should have done earlier. She held a finger up to his lips, shushing him, which only made him frown deeper. Bolin was about to suggest to him to smile more otherwise he would get frown lines before he was 20, when Korra let out a strangle cry, standing up from the couch. They stared up at her, holding their food away from her sudden movements.

"This! I knew something was weird about this one because it made no sense. I kept reading it, trying to understand what it means, but it's a message!"

Mako quirked an eyebrow, "We're not really following you here, Korra."

She smacked the newspaper down, narrowly missing her own soup in her excitement. Pointing dramatically at the specific one, she looked at them expectantly. Mako repeated his words and she frowned, all excitement leaving her body as she slumped back to the couch, pulling the newspaper closer to her.

"Lion Turtle,

The lop-earred rabbit has found the carrot warehouse by the cabbage.

Blue Jay"

Mako opened his mouth to repeat his words a third time, but she got up and started to pace the room.

"Haven't you ever heard any of Avatar Aang's stories?"

"Our parents told us some when we were kids, but not that many," Bolin said, back to eating his soup now that she was gone.

"The Lion Turtle is a giant creature that can bend…" she paused, looking at them eagerly to see if they knew the answer. When they didn't she crumpled in on herself a little, "They're energy benders like Amon, guys. I can't believe I know more than you do."

Before they could retaliate and regain some of their masculinity again, she was off again, "The lop-earred rabbit part…" she reached up to grab the strands of hair she had coming down the sides of her face, "I think that's supposed to be me and the carrot just goes with the rabbit part and the "warehouse" part is quite obvious."

"Then what's with the cabbage part? Cabbage Corps?" Bolin asked, slurping down the last of his soup and setting the empty bowl down.

"No, it's the bay. Cabbage is made up of mostly water, right? And that warehouse we're heading to tomorrow night is by the bay!" She snatched the newspaper up, dashing toward the stairs.

"Hey! That's our newspaper!" Mako yelled just as Bolin said, "What about your food?"

But she disappeared from their sight, her feet thumping down the wooden steps. Mako looked over at Bolin, who just shrugged and picked up Korra's discarded soup to finish it off for her.

"I hope that's the last time she's ever going to be smarter than us," Mako mused and Bolin had to bite his lip to keep back the laugh that threatened to rise from his brother's dejected look.


	4. Words Left Unsaid

It had been five days, eighteen hours and 32 minutes since Korra and Mako had kissed. It wasn't like Bolin was counting or keeping track or anything like that. He wasn't that kind of person. He glanced over at Korra, who was floating on her back in Asami's pool, her brown hair floating about her like a halo. Quickly, he shoved his face under the water to cool the blush on his cheeks. It didn't help that Asami had let Korra borrow an old swimsuit that as a little too small for her. Apparently they usually just swam in their underwear in the South Pole, though why they would want to swim there was beyond him.

Once he resurfaced, she was gone. He blinked, wondering if, maybe, he had been under there a little longer than he had thought. He glanced over at his brother, who was leaning against the side of the pool, talking to Asami with a smile on his face. Korra wasn't near them, so that left- A giant shriek of victory sounded behind him and he turned just in time to see a wave crashing down on him. It was like being sucked into a whirlpool and he disappeared beneath the surface of the water again, this time not because he wanted to.

When he finally found his way back to the surface, he found Korra staring at him, her face filled with glee. He didn't even have to turn around to see his brother and Asami to know they weren't amused by the way they were coughing up all the water that had just landed on them.

"Want to have a water fight, Bo?" Korra asked, pushing herself toward him. He backed off, not really trusting her arms at the moment. With a flick of her wrist she could send him back down to the bottom of the pool again.

He cracked a grin, "I think I'll pass."

"What? Think you'll lose?" She pouted, causing him to snort and roll his eyes.

"Of course!"

"I'll go easy on you. No waterbending. Just plain, old, boring splashes."

He pointed at her, "Hey! Those 'plain, old, boring splashes' are the only thing I can do."

"And I feel so much pity for you," her grin was his only warning before another wave rose over him, cascading over his body. He was able to keep his footing this time around and brought his arms up to deliver a splash back to her. Once the wave subsided, he pushed his arms forward, pretending he was a waterbender and was pleased with the results he got, his splash washing over Korra. She blinked at him once before her grin widened and she dove at him, pushing him under the water, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in with him.

She was inches from his face, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at him. It was a few seconds before she pushed away with waterbending, sending them both flying from each other until they were almost the length of the pool apart. She surfaced before he did as he hovered in the water for a little while to try to get coherent thoughts back. He peeked over the surface of the water and caught his brother's eye. Mako was pretty angry looking, his usual gravity defying locks plastered to his head. Asami was giggling, snuggling up to Mako to try to cheer him up a bit, her own hair drenched.

He swam forward a bit, leaving behind Asami and Bolin backed off, wondering what his brother was going to do. But, suddenly Mako smirked and did exactly what Korra had done moments before. Bolin looked back at this later, figuring that he really should have been expecting it, but right now he was being shoved back under the water by his brother. He popped back up immediately, now behind his brother. He grabbed Mako by the back of the head, grinning wildly as he shoved Mako under the pool water. After that, complete chaos erupted in the pool as they all started chucking water at each other, though Korra was the clear victor against all of them.

A throat being cleared caught their attention and they all turned to see a drenched servant standing near the edge of the pool, looking as though he hated the world and everyone in it.

"Oh, sorry!" Korra grimaced, quickly bending the water off of the man, who straightened up as the water drifted off, readjusting his bowtie, though it looked perfectly fine to begin with.

"Your father wants to see you, Ms. Sato," the servant said, his eyes looking down at Asami, "It would be best if you got back into normal clothes before you went."

Asami got out of the pool without another word, water streaming off her as she climbed out. She turned to ask Korra to pull the water off of her, but she was already ahead of her, waving her arms through the air. With an apologetic wave and one last swish of her hair, she left with the servant not far behind her. Immediately an awkward silence descended on the trio as they all inevitably thought of the night five days earlier, when Korra kissed Mako. Bolin sunk a little below the water again, examining them both over the crest of the blue water. Mako and Korra's eyes met for a short moment and immediately they tore their gaze away from each other.

Korra swam to the side of the pool making her way to the ladder that Asami had used to leave. She climbed out, too, quickly bending the water off her form. Bolin found himself blushing again as she stood above the water, every inch of her visible now. He realized that he had never seen her legs before. She was always wearing pants. The thought made him blush even darker, something he really did not want at the moment and he felt the tops of his ears get warmer. He just hoped his hair was covering them.

"See you around, guys. I have to go get some airbending practice in or Tenzin with be mad," she blew a raspberry and slouched over a little before moving towards the exit, leaving the two brothers alone in the pool. Bolin spared Mako a glance, knowing they were thinking the same thing. Everything was about to get really awkward. He drifted backwards a bit, farther away from Mako.

"Bo-" Mako started, then bit his lip, his eyes shifting down as he let out a sigh. They had sort of cleared things up already, but there was still a tense cloud hanging over them, like a thunderstorm waiting to rain. All memories of the fun they had just been having suddenly darted away as if it had never been there to begin with.

"You don't have to say anything, Mako," Bolin offered, but Mako just shook his head.

"Yes, I do, Bolin. You're my brother and I never want to hurt you emotionally or physically. You're the last family I have and I just feel like I'm too overbearing sometimes, like I smother you and think you're still six," his eyes suddenly darted up to meet Bolin's, "And I'm so sorry for what I've done to you. But just know that I sometimes don't mean what I do. My heart has control over my brain sometimes and other times I just do things before my brain can actually process what it is I'm doing."

"But you like Korra, right?" Bolin whispered, knowing he wouldn't like the answer he would get.

"Yeah, I guess," Mako sighed out after a while, then pointed at Bolin furiously, "But don't ever tell her I said that!"

"Why would I ever want to do that, Mako?" Bolin murmured before he, too, got out of the pool and left, leaving Mako alone to drift around in the water with only his thoughts and the echo of words spoken to keep him company.


	5. Searching

When they heard that Korra had been captured by Amon, fear ate at all of their hearts. Bolin felt like his veins had turned to ice. Korra captured? No, that couldn't be. She was too strong, too ferocious, too… her. She couldn't be captured just like that. Obviously he hadn't heard right or there was some misunderstanding or joke going on that was missing. But, looking at Lin's facial expressions as she relayed the news to them, he knew that he had heard her correctly the first time. Amon had Korra.

He chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes flashing over to Asami as she watched Mako step forward, disbelief written all over his face and mixed into his words. He didn't believe it, either. Asami looked worried. It wasn't that long ago, after all, that her father had been proven to be an Equalist supporter that made their weapons. The wound was still raw and to hear that Korra had been kidnapped by the Equalists was probably like pouring salt in the wound.

Asami crossed her arms, staring at Mako. He was always concerned about his friends, but this one seemed like a little too much concern for her comfort. It was like he was possessive of Korra… or because he liked her. Her brow furrowed even more, but he seemed oblivious to her stare as he walked out of the cell. She followed, ignoring the little yelp from Bolin behind them as Lin used her metalbending to zip up his pants, much to his discomfort.

She quickened her pace to try to keep up with him, but he was walking too fast. His strides seemed like he was crossing worlds without her and she slowed down, back to her normal walk and watched him walk farther from her. His back seemed so big at that moment, like a mountain she could never climb. She cast her eyes down, biting her bottom lip. She was looking too much into it, that was the only explanation. He was just concerned for Korra, like they all were. That was all there was to it. But no comfort was brought with those thoughts.

Tenzin wasn't quite happy too see all of them in front of his desk later. After all, the former chief of police had broken them out of jail, something that was highly illegal, to say the least. But he softened up a bit since they were only there to help him find Korra and he needed all the help he could get. Some high quality benders would help things a lot, after all, if they had to go up against any member of the Equalists, even the ones lower in rank. A few jab of their fingers or knuckles and they would be face first on the ground.

Finding where the Equalists hid wasn't as hard as she thought it would be, especially since all Lin had to do was slam the bottom of her foot into the ground to pick up movements in the earth, leading them straight to a tunnel nearby. They walked down to the grate and Lin thrust her hands up and the metal slid up with her hands. Once they were all through, she let it drop again behind them without a sound. Now it would be harder to find out where they went, as there were no obvious tire marks to follow.

The inside of the tunnel was dark and they all clustered around Mako who thrust his palm up into the air, letting flames dance over his knuckles. His fire was their only source of light at the moment in the eerie, damp tunnel and none of them wanted to get lost alone in Equalist territory. They walked into a larger part of the tunnel, four tunnels branching off it. Now for which one they would have to take-

"Let's try this way," Mako said, already walking toward the tunnel he was indicating. Asami took a step forward.

"And what if Korra's not down there?"

"Then we pick another tunnel until we find her," he turned his back to her again, walking forward and away from them all and they had no choice but to follow him and his flame. Asami frowned. Now Mako was acting a little too weird for her liking. She fell in step with Bolin, both of them trailing behind the others. She figured that, since he was Mako's brother, he would know more about the matter and what was going on with Mako than she did.

"Hey," she started and he looked over, "Is Mako alright? He seems really worried about Korra," her eye looked up at Mako's back, then back at Bolin.

"Yeah, we all are," Bolin answered.

"I know, but he's your brother," she brought up her hand, her palm facing outwards, as though to keep the words only between them, "Do you think he likes Korra as more than just a friend?"

Bolin let out a nervous laugh, smiling his usual wide grin at her, and stopped walking, "What? No! That's… just gossip. Where'd you hear that?" Pointing at her, he smiled, "Crazy talk is coming out of your mouth right now," he let out another nervous laugh, his grin faltering before he looked away, hands tucked behind his back and a frown on his face. She frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you know, Bolin?" She got no answer, so she tried again, "Come on, spill it."

He slouched forward, pulling at the neck of his shirt jacket, "Nothing! I mean- there was this one time during the tournament when Mako and Korra kissed, but-"

"They kissed?" Asami felt like her heart had been ripped out as she stared at Bolin before she glanced sideways after Mako's disappearing form. Bolin realized what he had done and quickly jumped to defend his brother, his smile all gone.

"Believe me, I was upset, too, but I'm over it," a knife slid into his heart, "I don't think it meant anything," Another knife slid in right next to the other one. And he had to look away from Asami, his eyes downcast.

"I doubt that," Asami growled, saying exactly what was on Bolin's mind as she continued after the others. The roar of motorcycles rose up behind them and they ran for cover, watching the approaching Equalists. One of them flicked a button on the handlebars of their vehicle and one of the walls across from them opened up, showing another tunnel going further into the earth through there. That was where the Equalists were and that was definitely where they were going if they wanted to see Korra again and set her free before Amon did something to her.

Lin bent the door up for them once more and they dashed forward into the dark area. This area was lit, unlike the other part, which made it easier for them to move through. All the vehicles parked around told them that this was definitely a big Equalist area, maybe even their headquarters but, for now, only time could tell. Trams were running in and out of the station, Equalists getting onto and off the moving piece of equipment.

One getting off of the tram mentioned the prison and they immediately perked to attention. That was the way to go if they wanted to find Korra. They waited for them masked chi-blockers to leave before they climbed onto the tram, Asami starting it up and they raced through the tunnel, hopping off before they reached the end. The tram slid to a stop and two Equalists stared at the empty tram.

"It's empty," one said, stating the obvious

The other replied with, "Yeah, I can see that," and they could almost see him roll his eyes behind his goggles.

That was when Lin made her move, quickly knocking the two of them out so they could continue on their search, leaving Bolin and Asami to stand by and keep an eye on the two unconscious Equalists. The two of them watched the others walk deeper into the prison. Bolin looked over at Asami who was watching Mako, a concerned and thoughtful expression on her face. He felt awful for having told her that, but at the same time, he knew that it was good he did. She needed to know sometimes what had happened between Korra and Mako, no matter how much it hurt her. No matter how much it hurt him.

After a few uncomfortable minutes where they stood in silence, Bolin opened his mouth, meaning to try and start a idle conversation with her, when suddenly an alarm blared through the quiet air and they immediately started moving back towards their tram. They had been found out and it was time for them to get moving and fast. By the time the others emerged back in the main room, five police officers in tow, Bolin and Asami were already good to go, Asami back behind the controls of the machine, waiting for them to make it down the steps. They hopped on and started it up. It was time to get out of there. By the looks on their faces, downright fury and realization, Bolin knew they had figured out where Korra was, but he knew it wasn't the time to ask.

Their escape went by in a blur, their actions coming from their own need to stay alive and the adrenaline pulsing through their system. Bolin kind of remembered making a tunnel collapse and screaming out some slang afterward, but it was all kind of fuzzy to him as they found themselves back up above ground. Reality didn't really come back to them again until they were high in the air on a sky bison's back, wondering what to do next. A howl rose up in the night sky. Naga's howl. Bolin grinned at the noise because it meant that Korra was back and that was all that mattered.


	6. Waking Up

Korra's eyes snapped open, a scream erupting from her throat as she thrust her arms out, water spinning through the air to land on her attacker. Silence fell over the room once more and she blinked as she realized where she was, back at the Air Temple, safe in her bed. That meant that her attacker really was- she blinked again, finding a drenched, and quite surprised, Bolin hovering over her, a damp towel in his hand.

The bowl of water that he had been using to rewet the towel was now emptied all over his head. He was just grateful that she hadn't put much behind the half-asleep attack, or he could have been lying on the ground, bleeding from his head instead. Quickly she bent the water off him, depositing it back from where it had come.

"I'm sorry, Bolin. I just acted on fear. I didn't know-"

He just smiled softly and pushed her back into the bed, applying the towel to her feverish forehead.

"It's okay, Korra. I'm just glad that you woke up. Just get some sleep, okay? You've been feverish for days."

"Days?" She struggled to sit up again, despite his attempts to push her back down, "How long have I been out?"

Before he could answer her, Tenzin threw open the door and came rushing in, followed closely by Mako and Asami. Each of them wore a concerned expression on their face as they hurried through the door, their eyes all on Korra.

"You're awake," Tenzin breathed in relief, "When I heard your scream, I thought the worst was happening," he rushed forward, sitting on the edge of her bed and gathered her into his arms, dwarfing her. She gripped onto him tightly, the damp cloth falling off her forehead to be forgotten for the meantime. Her face was buried into his shoulder as her fingers gripped tightly to his clothes. Finally, she backed away from the hug, her eyesight blurring in front of her. Her body needed sleep again, but her mind needed answers first.

"How many days?"

Bolin, knowing what she was talking about, finally gave her his answer, "Four days, Korra. You've been asleep for four days, wracked with nightmares and a fever. We've managed to get you to drink water every now and again, but nothing more. You tend to thrash about a bit if we try giving you anything more," he gave her the smallest of smiles she had seen on his face before his head ducked down, swiftly turning his attention to his feet, which scuffed lightly over the wooden floor.

She collapsed back on the bed, her hair falling about her. Someone had taken it out of its usual confinements. The world was slipping from her, she was falling back into sleep. Tenzin noticed this and stood back up, looking down at her.

"Just try and get some more sleep, okay? When you wake up next time, we'll get some food into you."

She nodded sleepily, feeling herself be pulled back into the darkness.

"Hey, Bo, I'll stay by her side this time. You go get some sleep or something."

"I'm fine, Mako, why don't you and Asami go out on a date to clear your minds or distract yourselves. I'll stay here with Korra."

"Bol-"

"I think you three should all go. I'll look after her in the meantime," Tenzin's voice broke through their argument and Korra heard them leave without another word in protest. The wet cloth was put back on her forehead, then she was gone again, lost to the darkness.

* * *

She woke up shivering the next time even though she was covered in plenty of blankets. She couldn't remember what her nightmare had been about, but it didn't take a genius to figure it out. Tarrlok. It wasn't just Amon that plagued her dreams now, with his threats of taking her bending. Tarrlok also lurked in her mind now, playing with her as though she were a puppet attached to the strings he was holding.

Being bloodbent had been the worst experience she had even been through, to not be able to control her own body and the pain that shot through her limbs with each twitch of his fingers. The blood in her veins had become his to control and had turned into pure fear rushing through her body. Swallowing heavily, trying to control the fear that rushed up her throat, she closed her eyes and tried to level her breathing.

"Korra? You awake?" A soft voice floated over to her and she reopened her eyes, turning to look behind her. Bolin sat behind her on a chair, looking worse off than he had the last time she had woken up. Dark shadows were under his eyes, showing that he had been getting little to no sleep. She turned to face him, flicking the hair out of her eyes that flopped down over her face.

"You need to get some sleep," she murmured, rubbing her eyes with her fist and trying to sit up again. Immediately he was on his feet, pushing her back down to her mattress.

"I'm fine, Korra. It's yourself that you need to worry about. Just wait here, relax, and I'll go get you some food. You must be starving."

Her stomach growled at that moment as though to prove his point and she gave him a small, sheepish smile. He grinned back, but it lacked his usual spunk, his weariness getting to him. Slipping out with one last backwards glance at her, he disappeared from her room to go get her some food. She tried to relax, but she couldn't, her mind was too busy trying to figure everything out and remember what had happened. She was still shivering, but it seemed to be more from fatigue than the cold.

He slipped back in with a steaming bowl of soup on a tray, "I convinced them to bring some meat onto the island while you were out. It gives you more nutrients and strength, after all," he gave her a goofy grin as he set the tray down on her side table, getting a small giggle to leave her. He looked up at her, his grin widening at the sound of her laugh, "Mako made the soup, since you didn't eat your bowl last time you were at our apartment. But, if you die from it…"

She looked a little worried at then so he let out a short laugh, clapping a hand down on her shoulder, "Don't worry, Korra. Mako cooks all our food and has been since our parents… well, you know. But we're still alive, right? He's one of the best cooks I know, though Pema certainly beats him," he leaned in, inches from her, and whispered, "Don't tell him I said that, though. He'll get all sassy."

"I won't tell him. Now give me that food, Bo! I'm starving!"

He pulled back with a smile and, together, they got her sitting up so she could eat. She found that she was too weak to feed herself and had to begrudgingly let Bolin feed her. He tried to keep the grin off his face as he did, but he was finding it quite a hard task to do. It didn't help that she had that adorable pout on her face the whole time.

Once she was done with the bowl, she relaxed back on the bed, patting her stomach in content, "Mako will make a good housewife someday," she grinned mischievously. Bolin had to hold back the laughter that threatened to spill out of him and just sat there, laughing silently instead. He didn't want to make to much noise, after all. That would just alert others that she was awake and the last thing he wanted was his brother barging in here to swoop Korra into his arms. The thought made a frown appear on his face and he almost didn't hear her question.

"Has Blue Jay been in the newspaper again recently?"

"The wh-" he started, his brow furrowed in confusion before realization flickered in his eyes, "Oh! I was confused there. I thought you were asking about the bird when you were… in fact… asking about-" he awkwardly cleared his throat as she stared him down, "I haven't checked. Things got a little hectic, you know?"

She smiled softly at him to comfort him, seeing the pain in his eyes, "We'll I'm back now, so that's all over with."

"Why'd you want to know about "Blue Jay?"

She frowned, getting down to business, "Amon showed up."

He leaned forward, eyes wide.

"He took Tarrlok's bending away and he almost got me," she let her eyes slide close for a second before they snapped back open, "But how-"

"There was a report on the radio, according to Lin, about how you had gotten attacked by the Equalists. I guess Amon didn't like the accusation and went himself to put it right?"

"How did he know where I was being kept? I was up in the snowy mountains with nothing else in sight. How did Amon know where-"

"Think Tarrlok was "Blue Jay?" Bolin asked her and her eyes widened at the thought.

"It would be interesting if he was, but what would he gain from that?"

"Beats me. I was never one for politics," he smiled, "Too many crazy people in that section of society."

She stared at him, "Bolin… you hang out with a bunch of crazy people. Some are into politics."

"…Well I guess I should learn something about it then, maybe?" He laughed at that, getting up to leave. She smiled up at him, her eyelids halfway shut. She needed her sleep again, but he didn't want to leave her again. He was afraid that if he let her out of his sight again, she would get kidnapped by someone else now that the knew she wasn't invincible as he had originally thought. He leaned down over her and she stared up at him, confusion in her eyes as he hovered closer.

It wasn't until their faces were inches apart that her eyes opened all the way, staring up at him in realization. His lips brushed closer to hers, their warm breath intermingling with each other. He was so close to her, he could feel the heat radiating off her skin and, if he listened close enough, he could probably hear the loud, nervous beat of her heart. But he chose not to wait any longer. He darted forward, leaving a kiss on her cheek instead of her lips and moved back, picking up her empty soup bowl. Without another word between them, he slipped out of the door, his cheeks heating up as soon as the door shut behind him.

Settling back against the door, he let out a sigh as he realized what he had done. Sure, it could have been worse if he had kissed her on the lips instead of the cheek, but he had still kissed her. Back in the other room, Korra stared at the closed doors before her hand hesitantly floated up to her cheek, her fingers brushing lightly over the skin that Bolin had kissed.

It was still warm from his lips.


	7. Newspaper Search

"So what exactly are we doing?" Asami asked, turning around in the driver's seat to address everyone in her car. It was dead silent in the car as everyone shuffled awkwardly in their seats. Mako was sitting in the passenger seat by Asami and the tense atmosphere around them was enough to tell Bolin that they had discussed the kiss. As a result, Mako would send glares every once in a while to Bolin, who would scoot farther over in his seat back with Korra, who was sending him odd glances every now and again.

"Newspaper?" Bolin finally squeaked out, hoping that word would be helpful.

Luckily Korra spoke up then, "We're going to the newspaper company to see if we can figure out who 'Blue Jay' is."

"And what if it's one of us?" Asami asked tersely, her eyes narrowing at the Avatar. She knew that she was most likely the prime suspect because of her father. Korra just smiled softly.

"There's no way that's possible. You guys are my friends. Bolin and I-" Bolin whipped his head over in her direction, "were thinking that maybe Blue Jay was Tarrlok since Amon knew where to find me. Maybe Amon thought Tarrlok had stepped out of Amon's comfort zone? But then I figured that if Tarrlok was suspect, then that means that his whole force is suspect. Now which do you think is more plausible? A bunch of adults who don't know me and are led by a corrupt official, or the people that I spend most of my time with, who I would give my life for?"

"We'd give our lives for you, too, Korra," Mako said, then quickly stared at Bolin for help because he didn't want Asami to think he had said that just because he liked Korra. Bolin smiled softly and nodded, reaching out hesitantly to place a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't move away from his touch, his smile widened and he let his hand land on her.

"I would give my life for you, Korra. No doubt about that," He felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks and he could feel his brother staring at him, eyes wide. Luckily, the attention was drawn off him as Asami put her hand on Korra's other shoulder.

"As would I. We're all in this for the long shot. Team Avatar, right?"

Korra laughed, remembering that night that hadn't been that long ago, but felt years away. She held her hand out and they all piled their hands on top of hers, smiles on all their faces. They pulled away from the huddle, Bolin's hand drifting a little too long on Korra's. She glanced at him, gathering her hand to her chest, while he looked out the side of the car, his eyes wide with innocence as Asami moved the car out into the street. The wind ruffled through his hair and though he wanted to peek over at Korra to see what she was doing now, he stopped himself, his eyes staying on the buildings that went past.

Only when they slowed down, did he bring his eyes back forward, seeing Korra out of the corner of his eye. She was looking out the other side of the car. Asami pulled into a parking space and Korra jumped out of the back of the car without a backwards glance. Bolin hopped out next while Mako and Asami opened their car doors and stepped out, staring up at the newspaper building. Then, they all took in a shuddering breath and walked through the front doors. Immediately they were bustled into the front room by force, sidestepping out of everyone's way. It was mass chaos in there.

Reporters and writers were hurrying around, papers and pens clutched in their hands and the four of them just barely made it to the front desk without being trampled. The news must have been going crazy over Equalist happenings and the like. When they approached the front desk, the old woman sitting behind it barely glanced in their direction, as she was too busy scribbling notes on a piece of paper, holding the ear piece of the phone up to her head. She spoke into the mouthpiece every once in a while to confirm a detail, but the words were lost to the group in the loud noises of all the movement behind them. Finally she put the phone back with a clang.

"Is there something I can help you with? As you can see, we are quite busy at the moment," she growled, her eyes flickering back to the telephone as it starting ringing again.

"Ah, yes, can you tell us where the classified section is in the building? We'd like to talk to whoever it in charge of it," Korra asked, leaning over the desk to make sure her words carried over to the woman.

The woman's eyes flickered over them, looking them over before she deemed them unimportant compared to the phone call waiting for her, "Third floor, down the hallway," she dismissed them with a wave of her hand and they quickly backed off into the crowd as she picked up the phone again, her croaky voice barely heard. They moved toward the sign that pointed toward the stairs and got in a single file line to edged their way up them, keeping to the far right, hugging the wall, to let the workers dash past them in both directions. They moved quickly through the hallway, dancing around people as they moved from cubicle to cubicle.

Finally, they arrived at the classified section and they pushed the door open into the smaller area. It was quieter in here and much less hectic. A few heads looked up from their work to watch them walk in and someone murmured, "It's time like these that I'm glad I don't work in one of those departments."

A squat man walked towards them, a frown on his face, "If you wanted something printed in the classified section, then there was a slot downstairs in the main lobby for you to deposit it or you could have mailed it in."

"We're not here for that, sir, we just want to know the identity of one of the classified announcements in your newspaper."

"We get everything from ads for sales to wedding proposals," Bolin giggled at that one, "and jobs to pets. Everything that comes in that doesn't have a name behind it is kept that way. We allow things to be confidential for a reason."

"Sir, I'm the Avatar, and the identity is of upmost importance. It's related to Amon," immediately everyone perked up, and the air became thick with anticipation. For them to have something related to Amon in their section would be huge. Immediately the boss became all smiles, his hospitable side coming to the surface.

"Oh, well, Ms. Avatar-"

"You can call me Korra," she corrected him.

"Korra, you can sit down and look through the letters and whatnot of the ones we have put in the newspaper over there," he waved over at a giant pile of papers in the corner of the room and immediately exhaustion pulled at their bodies even though they hadn't started the job yet. Then Korra straightened up, coaxing herself on and walked over to the pile.

"Come on, guys. These papers aren't going to be looked through on their own!"

Hours later and they had gone through every letter and paper with no slip from Blue Jay in sight. A few workers who remembered writing up a Blue Jay classified tried to help them a bit, but to no avail. At the end of the day they had gotten no farther than where they had been in the morning. They stood up stretching as the rest of the people in the room did the same. It was the end of the day now and they were all heading home from work now that they were free to go. Korra stared down at the papers in anger, kicked a stray letter as a way of getting back at it for ruining her entire day.

"If any of you get another letter from someone named Blue Jay, please let me know in some way!" She called to the people in the office and they all nodded and murmured that they would. Korra turned with a sigh and left the office, closing the door behind her a little more rough than necessary. They other three gave each other a look before hurrying out after the young Avatar before she took her anger out on some unsuspecting civilian.


	8. A Broken Red Thread

Korra glanced over her bowl of food at Pema and Tenzin at the other side of the table. Tenzin was currently fussing over their unborn child while Pema laughed at him, slapping his hands away from her protruding belly. Every time she thought of the age difference between the two of them, she thought it was sweet that the two of them had been able to find love in each other, even if Pema had had to push Lin out of Tenzin's love life. They two were cute together, both strong willed in their own ways. Not to mention, Korra couldn't exactly image Lin settling down and having children when she could be out running though the city, catching bad guys. A housewife just didn't fit her image.

Korra frowned at the thought. She was exactly that way as Lin in that regard. She couldn't imagine sitting at home with children, yet… she wanted someone in her life. Her eyes flickered over to Mako and Bolin, who were currently stealing from each other's plate whatever the other stole from their own. It was like a never-ending battle, but smiles were on their faces the whole time as they playfully shoved each other away every now and then. Bolin reached up, ruffling Mako's hair out of its usual style and Mako dropped his chopsticks to quickly do the same to Bolin until they just sat there, messing the other's hair up.

Korra let out a little laugh at the sight of the two disgruntled brothers, almost choking on the rice that was in her mouth. They at least had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed for being caught and went back to eating their food their gazes locked on their plates. Meanwhile Asami was trying to hold back her laughter from her place sitting next to Korra. The two finished their food in silence the rest of their meal and quietly excused themselves. Asami finished hers, too, and set off after the two boys. Now that it was just Tenzin's family and Korra at the table, it felt like old times again, back before all the chaos. She excused herself and left the table, Tenzin giving her a look as she left to let her know not to miss airbending practice or there would be a price to pay.

She just smirked at him and left. There was really nothing he could do to make her come to practice, and if she did, it wasn't as if she was going to be able to achieve anything, anyway. Just another session of her meditating, spinning around, and throwing her arms out with nothing to show for it. It just made her angry to go to airbending practice lately. It was like sitting there, letting someone slap you in the face, only it was her inability to be the Avatar that was slapping her in the face. She sighed, heading up to her usual spot where she went when she wanted to be alone and just think. It was by the cliffside, where Mako, Bolin, and Asami had found her back when she had been crying.

As she neared the spot, though, she became aware that someone was already there. The sound of someone whistling danced over to her on the air. She slowed down, trying to figure out who it was by the sound of the whistle, but it was impossible without a voice to put with it. The tune seemed to be a soft song, like one used to lull kids to sleep. She peered around a tree at the spot and blinked in surprise when she saw Bolin sitting there, one leg over the cliff, the other folded up to his chest as he leaned back his head, whistling the tune to the sky. A slight breeze ruffled his hair, which he had put back in its usual slicked back look after Mako and his hair battle. For some reason, he looked a little sad.

She approached him quietly and he didn't notice her at first until her shadow fell over him. Immediately, his tune came to a stop and he tipped his head back further to stare at her, her frame silhouetted by the sun. As soon as he figured out it was her, he coughed and moved as though to get up. She moved to stop him, and he looked at her in shock. She, herself, was a little shocked that she had stopped him. After all, she had come up here to get away from everyone and have a little time to herself, but…

"No, it's okay, you can stay," He blinked once before turning his gaze back out over the view. Bolin expected Korra to sit down next to him, but jumped a little when she sat behind him, leaning her back against his. He straightened up a bit and she fell back into him more. Already a blush was heating up his cheeks just from the close contact. She sighed and nestled further back into him, her head lolling to the side.

"You okay, Bolin?" She asked after a moment of silence. He looked over, glanced out of the corner of his eye at the top of her head.

"Why are you asking me that? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question? You were the one who was kidnapped and all that, not to mention that trip to the newpaper probably got your spirits down a bit," her hand was so close to his. If he just moved his hand out a little bit, he could put his fingers between hers and-

"You think something like that is going to stop me, Bolin? I'm just getting started. I'm going to find out who this Blue Jay character is, even if it's the last thing I do."

"Just remember that you don't have to do it alone, okay?" This time he did move his hand over, his fingers just barely brushing over the back of her hand. She flinched away and he cringed. As he was about to pull his hand back to its position before, her hand floated back like a ghost, finding a place next to his. He could feel the heat of her hand next to his and he let out a breath as the warmth licked at him, so close to his own hand. He supposed this was probably the closest he was ever going to get to holding her hand. He sighed.

"See, something is wrong. I'll ask you again. Are you okay, Bo?" He felt her head turn to look at him more, but he kept his eyes straight ahead this time.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm not an idiot, Bo. That tune you were humming before-"

"It was something my mom used to sing to Mako and me to make us go to sleep. It helps me calm down even today."

"What do you need help calming down for?"

"I thought you said you weren't an idiot, Korra," she elbowed him roughly in the kidney and he grimaced with a little laugh, "I think you know what I need to calm myself down about."

When he got no reply from her for a while, he continued, "Look, about that time after Tarrlok in your room before I left… well, I…" he brought his hands up and began twiddling his thumbs as he tried to figure out how to say what he had in his head, but no words were coming to him.

"You were going to kiss me, weren't you?"

Bolin sputtered and clawed for words, throwing his arms around in the air as through that would save him. She laughed, her presence disappearing from his back and he heard her stand back up. He turned, looking up at her, his entire face beet red from embarrassment.

"Don't fret, Bolin, I think it was kinda cute how you went for kissing me on the cheek instead. Get a little cold feet?"

He stood up in front of her, their bodies inches apart. He just didn't get this girl. She kept sending him all the wrong signals. Once second, he thinks he has a chance with her, the next she's trading spit with his brother, only to come back to first place again. What did she really want?

"Don't you like my brother? I mean, you two kissed and all, so I don't really want to come between that if you really like him. I just want you to be happy, you know?" He finished awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

She looked down at her hands as she shuffled on the spot she was standing and for the first time he realized that she wasn't wearing her winter coat. The wind was probably freezing to her, even if she was from the South Pole. He moved a little closer to provide her with a little warmth from his body.

Korra looked up at him, her blue eyes staring into his, "I honestly don't know anymore whether I like him or not. He has Asami and she needs him. Not to mention, we haven't been spending that much time together lately, so it feels as though my affections have been drifting away from him and I don't want to hurt Asami. I probably should apologize to her about the kiss the next time I see-" she was cut short as a particular fierce wind blew over them and she shivered, throwing herself forward into his chest. He wrapped his arm around her shivering form without hesitation.

"Time to go inside, Ms. South Pole?" He asked with a laugh, and she pulled away to pout at him.

"Don't make fun of me, Earthboy."

"Hey, I'm not the one who came outside without a coat, now am I?"

She pouted even further and the facial expression made her even cuter, if that was even possible. He tilted his head down, their foreheads touching and it felt too much like that other day. In the end, he was the one to pull away after she shivered once more from the cold. They walked back to the buildings, side by side, Korra's arms wrapped around herself to keep her warm. Bolin just didn't have it in him to pull her back into him. Being bold seemed to be something that he could do only once a day.


	9. A New Clue

"I think I have a breakthrough on the Blue Jay mystery," Korra shouted in joy, dashing up onto the practice area, where Mako and Bolin were currently working out and bending. As a result of her surprising entrance, one of Bolin's earth disks managed to slam into Mako's chest sending him backwards with a grunt. They all stopped and stared at him as he sat back up, patting his chest to check for any injuries. Asami hurried over to him to help him back up onto his feet.

"Are you okay, Mako?" Bolin asked hesitantly, making his way over to his brother.

"Yeah, I'm good. Feels just like old times, really," Mako smiled, taking Asami's outstretched hand for support before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close for a kiss on the cheek once he was back up on his feet.

Bolin let out a breath of relief and turned towards Korra, whose cheeks where red from running from wherever she had come from. Not on the island, that was for sure. She was wearing her coat, though, and he was glad for that. A piece of paper was clutched in her hands and he could see her own messy scribblings on it, but couldn't read it from this distance.

"What'd you find out?" Bolin asked, walking towards her and she held the paper up triumphantly before holding it so she could read off of it. She stared at it a moment, confused by her own handwriting before she frowned and just went off her own memory, stuffing the parchment into a pocket. Bolin snickered at her dejected expression.

"I was down at the task force headquarters, talking to the next in charge after Tarrlok, and upon me mentioning Blue Jay to him, he said he remembered someone in the force talking about their pet Blue Jay. Apparently he found a baby Blue Jay, brought it back to health, and decided to keep it as a pet bird. Kinda like me and Naga, I guess."

"So you're thinking that this man could be Blue Jay?" Asami asked, looking at Korra for confirmation.

Korra nodded curtly, "That's what I'm thinking and I'm really hoping that I'm right with this because it would save us a whole lot of trouble."

"Yes, it would," Asami murmured, bringing a hand up to hold her chin as she contemplated Korra's words, "We just have to find them and figure it out for ourselves, I suppose."

At this Korra sheepishly scuffed her feet over the ground, pulling the paper back out of her pocket, "Well, yeah. That is, if I can decipher my own writing, I suppose. I really should work on my handwriting, shouldn't I?"

"That would be an absolute yes," Bolin said, taking the paper from her and staring at the words, his eyes squinted as through that would help him, "I think… I think it- this one kinda looks like a turtle duck," he said with a smile, pointing at one of her words. Mako sighed and took if from her hand. He frowned and turned it a bit in his hands before turning the paper completely around.

"You two idiots had it upside down. I think reading it the right way up might help a bit."

"Hm, yes… I suppose it would," Bolin answered, bringing a hand up to stroke his nonexistent beard.

"I can read it now," Korra hissed, snatching the paper back, "Plus I knew it was like that all along, I was just testing you to see if you would notice. Good job, Mako. You fail, Bolin," her face was red in embarrassment as she turned away from them to read over what she had written.

"Going to need to use my car again?"

"Yeah, unless Naga suddenly decides to let us all ride on her back, which I doubt. She can be a very stubborn sometimes," she pouted, folding the paper up nicely this time around.

"Pets sure take after their owners, huh? Or was it the other way around?" Mako joked, walking past her to go get dressed into his regular clothes and out of his workout ones. Bolin followed after him, slinging an arm over his taller brother's shoulder and already telling him a joke that was apparently not very funny, evident by the absence of Mako's laugh. Of course, then again, it took a lot to get Mako to laugh. Now that the two of them were gone, it was just Korra and Asami standing awkwardly next to each other, unspoken words hanging over them like a storm cloud.

"Look, Asami, I'm really sorry about kissing Mako back during the tournament and I really wish I could take it back because I didn't do it to hurt you or harm your relationship with him, I was just confused and I really liked him at the time and-" Korra started blurting out after the silence became to uncomfortable for her to handle, but Asami stopped her rambling by raising a hand to stop her, a soft smile on her lips.

"It's fine Korra. I'm just angry that he didn't tell me about it earlier. In fact, he didn't even tell me about it. I had to learn it from his brother. It's evident that he liked you, too, but now that we have had the chance to talk about it together, I think we've grown closer. Our relationship has deepened now because that came to light and got out of the way. Sure, it will always be there like a thorn, but at least it's no longer hidden, right?" She smiled wider, "I'm not angry at you, Korra. The way I hear it, it was a spur of the moment."

"Yeah, kinda, I guess," she went back to scuffing her feet on the ground.

Asami placed a hand on her shoulder, "As long as you don't try and steal him from me, I think we'll be good, Korra. Plus, I'd rather we were friends than love rivals, wouldn't you? It'd be nice to have a girl friend that I can hang out with and just talk about girl stuff with. Maybe we can race cars again sometimes."

Korra perked up at the idea, "I… I would like that."

"Then we'll have to figure out a day to do it," Asami said, "I think my calendar is mostly clear. It's your Avatar schedule that we have to plan around, Ms. Four Elements."

"I'm sure we can figure it out," Korra laughed, turning as she saw Bolin and Mako making their way back toward them, "Hurry up, guys, or we're going to leave without you."

Bolin gave a dramatic yelp and picked up his pace, running over to them, leaving Mako behind, who took his sweet time joining them. They watched him come, their eyebrows raised and he just shrugged.

"What was that about you leaving without us?"

Asami grabbed him by the arm and began pulling him toward the dock so they could get on the boat to the mainland. Bolin laughed as the couple walked away, Mako protesting as he was dragged behind her. Korra and Bolin shared a glance and, for the first time, neither of them shied away from the eye contact.

"Ready to go?" She asked him with a smile.

"When you are, Miss," he gave a dramatic bow and she smacked him on the back of the head, walking past him.

"What's with everyone calling me 'Miss' today?"

"It just seems to slip off the tongue, Miss."

"Oh, stop it!"

"Sorry, Miss, but I don't think that's possible. Maybe-" she elbowed him in the gut, cutting him off and they stared at each other for a moment before laughing at their childish humor, just like old times.


	10. Sarcastic Skepticism

"Move out of the way. I got this."

"Oh, come on, you obviously do not "got this," Bo."

"I told you, Mako, I got this."

Korra and Asami spared each other an exasperated glance as they watched the brother try and pick the lock on the door. Neither of them were getting very far and, after a few muffled curses, they stared at the knob like that would scare it into clicking open for them. Finally, after a few more arguments and failed attempts, Asami pushed them both out of the way and went to work trying to unlock it as they both stared on in awe.

"You've done this before, haven't you?" Mako asked, a smile on his face as he watched his girlfriend attempt to break into someone's house.

"Once or twice, maybe," she murmured, her concentration never wavering.

A sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind them and they turned to see who it was. Immediately Asami dropped the tools she had been using, standing up straight, her eyes wide. Everyone followed suit, dread and fear rushing through their body. Standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the door was the very man they had come here to get dirt on. They had arrived to find him out of the house and had decided to take it upon themselves to break in and find the evidence they needed. What they hadn't expected was for him to return to his house while they were trying just that. He cleared his throat again, raising an eyebrow as he looked them all over, his arms crossed, hip cocked.

"Your little group has to be comprised of the worst thieves I have ever seen, Avatar. I've been standing here for five minutes, watching you try to break into my home? What brings you to my humble abode?" He spit out, his sarcasm like acid. Korra flinched away, her mind whirring to try and come up with excuses she could give him as to why they were at his house, trying to break in. But none came to the front of her mind at the moment. She deflated with a sigh.

"We're here because you're a suspect," she decided to go with the truth.

"A suspect for what?" He was remaining a skeptic, not that she could blame him, "I was not aware that there was an investigation going on that involved me being a suspect and you running around as though you were a police officer."

"Yeah, well, um… we're kind of taking things into our own hands now because the metalbending police force just doesn't listen to me anymore now that Lin is no longer chief."

"If I remember correctly, you got in trouble for taking matters into your own hands when you first arrived in the city, did you not?"

Korra cringed at the memory, "Yeah, but this is different!"

"Oh, yes, I can see that. Breaking and entering instead of destruction. How wonderful of you, Avatar, to change your ways of defying the law," he rolled his eyes and pushed his way past them, pulling a key out of his pocket, "Can I at least be told of whatever crime I'm suspect of having committed?"

"Cooperating with and spying for the Equalists?" She stated, but it was more of a question than a statement. Her confidence was gone now, thrown out the window now that she was face to face with the man. The lock clicked open, but the man made no move to actually open the door. Instead, his frame had become rigid, hostile. He turned to stare Korra in the eye and she backed away from his frigid glare.

"Say what, now? On what grounds do you have the right to accuse me of that? I have put my life on the line several times to bring down the Equalists. I'm a waterbender, for spirit's sake! Why would I ever decide to help them?" With each sentence he drew closer to Korra until he was standing in front of her, glaring down at her shrinking form. Her confidence felt like a spark, about to be extinguished. She took a step back to try and get out from under his shadow, but he appeared so tall at the moment, that it seemed impossible for her to manage. She was about to do something drastic when Bolin intervened, wedging himself between the two.

"Look, what's she's just trying to say is that you're a suspect in this, not the actual person, okay?"

"What evidence do you children have that I am connected to the Equalists in any way, shape, or form?" He spit out the word "children" as though it were a disease stuck in his throat.

Now it was Bolin's turn to shrivel up, "Your pet blue jay, sir?"

The anger vanished from the man and now he just looked perplexed, "What does Nila have to do with anything? She's just my pet."

"Well, um, you see, sir…" Bolin pondered for a second, wondering if he had ever learned the man's name. He spared a glance at Korra, who gave him a shrug, "Sorry, but we don't know your name, sir."

"You lot are really the worst at this, you know that, right?"

"We're painfully learning it," Korra sighed.

"My name's Kuno, learn it next time you want to break into my house. I know Korra and Ms. Sato there from the newspaper, sorry about your father, by the way," Asami gave him a small nod of thanks, "but who are you two?"

"I'm Bolin, and that's my brother, Mako. We're on - well we used to be on- the probending team called the Fire Ferrets. Perhaps you've heard of us? We made it all the way to the championship round and Korra's our waterbender on the team," Kuno seemed unimpressed, so Bolin decided it was best to get back to the actual matte on hand, "And the reason we're here is, well, you see, Kuno, sir-"

"Just Kuno."

"You see, Just Ku- oh my spirits I'm so sorry, let me try this again," Bolin was babbling now and the rest of them sighed inwardly as Bolin recollected himself to start over and try again, "Kuno, there's someone who has been alerting the Equalists of the task force's moves. That's why, back when the task force was under Tarrlok's command, most of the time the warehouses and factories were already wiped clean by the time you got there to make your move. The informant goes by the name of Blue Jay."

"And since I have a blue jay as a pet and a member of the task force, one who would know where we're going, I am a likely suspect," he figured it out before they even said it, turning back to his door and swinging it open, "I suppose you can come in and search, then. I have nothing to hide," as they all rushed forward, he held out a hand, "But first I want proof of this Blue Jay fellow."

"Um, well, uh-" Korra started when Bolin sprung to her rescue again, pulling the newspaper clipping out of his pocket and holding it out.

"I figured we might need this so I brought it along."

"I'm glad you did, Bo," Korra smiled up at him and he smiled softly back. The exchange was finally not missed by Mako, who watched to two with newfound interest, a gleam in his eye. Kuno handed the clipping back with a sigh.

"I don't know how you guys figured that out, but I suppose if it leads you closer to Amon in some way, it's worth looking into," he walked into his cramped apartment, holding the door open for them, "Come on in, Avatar. Just to let you know, this is how you actually enter a house. With permission."

Korra blushed, "Yes, Kuno, sorry about all that."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again," he sighed, closing the door after them.

"Of course."

They spread out through the apartment while Kuno went to his kitchen to begin preparing for his dinner. They figured they wouldn't find anything, as the man seemed trustworthy enough, so they only searched half heartily. Korra was done within minutes and preoccupied herself staring at his blue jay, which he had called Nila. She poked a finger between the bars of the cage to try and run a hand over the feathers of the bird.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice behind her warned and she snapped to attention to find Kuno standing behind her. He had removed his jacket and now stood with just his undershirt on. His almost shoulder-length brown hair, which had before been a droopy mess with some strands hanging over his eye, was now held up in a traditional watertribe's warrior wolf tail of sorts. Even the rest of his messy hair had been brushed off to the sides and tamed a bit. With his hair like that, he seemed so much younger than when she had originally seen him, especially since his blue eyes were no longer hidden as much.

"Why not?" Korra finally asked.

"She tends to think that anything stuck into her cage is food and that includes curious fingertips. She'll let you pet her if she's out of the cage, though," he moved forward, unlatching the cage door, "Here, let me get her for you." The bird hopped right over to his outstretched hand, perching itself on his pointer finger, its feet curled around the finger. He held her out to Korra and she hesitantly held out her own arm and the bird quickly switched perches. It was heavier than Korra had expected and she could feel the small creature weaving on her finger to maintain its balance.

Kuno smiled at the sight, all hostilities towards the group seeming to be gone for the meantime, "It seems she likes you. Not many people that she lets hold her."

"I guess I just have a way with animals."

"Like that polar bear dog of yours?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You're the first person to tame a polar bear dog, so don't you 'I guess' me, Avatar," he wandered back to the kitchen and she followed him. The smell of the food cooking made her stomach growl. He looked over at her, eyebrow raised, "Sorry, but I don't have any food for people trying to break into my place."

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I still don't have food for you."

"Cheapskate," she muttered, but he still heard her and gave her a little shake of his head, a small smile on his face. The others seemed to be taking their time more than Korra had, so she contented herself petting the bird on her hand, which chirped every now and again, its head turning and tilting to look around.

"How old are you, Kuno?" She suddenly asked and he stopped what he was doing, turning to her with a frown.

"If you asking me that because you want to go out on a-"

"Nonono! Nothing like that!" Her cheeks were red at the mere thought, "I was just curious and it seemed a way to start a conversation."

He went back to cooking, still frowning, "I'm 26."

"Only?" She said before she could stop herself.

"I look older, don't I? Just a consequence that comes with my line of work."

"Sounds hard," she murmured as the Nila started to climb up her arm to rest on her shoulder, like a pirate's parrot, "So why do you do it?"

"I get to protect people, save lives. Be a hero. Sure I'm not on the top, I'm not the leader, but as long as I can help people, then I'm good where I am even with the stress it brings," He began to scrape his dinner out of the pan, "The ones that are leaders are those who are best with the press, the people, and are powerful to boot. As you've noticed, I've got a charming personality. My mom always said I was 50% sarcasm, 25% wit, and, on a good day, 25% human. Of course, Tarrlock apparently didn't have that great of a personality himself, now did he? Unless, of course, it's perfectly normal to go kidnapping teenagers by bloodbending them against their will. Guess he was just a little more powerful than we originally though, huh?" He let out a laugh, but the sound was hollow.

The pan was placed in the sink with a loud clatter that startled Nila. The bird flapped its wings, but didn't go anywhere, instead squatting further down on Korra's shoulder, its feathers fluffed out. He walked over to give the bird an apologetic scratch on the head.

"What's it like to be, well, you know, bloodbent," he seemed hesitant for once, afraid he was bringing up a sore subject.

"It was awful. I had no control over my body, it just moved they way he wanted it to. He couldn't have done worse to me, I suppose. He mainly just used to it transport me around with ease. Nothing drastic, thank the spirits. I don't know if I would have been able to truly come back from that."

He opened his mouth, as though to say something more, but thought better of it and closed it again. The others walked into the room at that moment and it was obvious none of them had found anything, if they had tried hard at all. Bolin's eyes lit up as soon as he saw the bird perched on Korra's shoulder and he practically tripped over a chair on his way over to it.

"Korra, you look like a pirate," he squeaked out, "Hand her over! I want to look like one, too!"

Mako sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose, while Asami giggled, pulling his arm around her.

"Once your brother here is done looking like a pirate," Kuno said as he watched Bolin maneuver Nila to his own shoulder, "I would like you to please leave so I can enjoy my dinner in peace."

"Of course, Kuno, sir," Bolin said with mock salute before bringing his hand down over his right eye like it was an eye patch, "Argh, maties! Let's patrol the open seas and plunder all thy gold 'n riches! Argh!"

"I honestly don't think that's how pirates talk, Bolin. Now I must ask you to stop harassing my pet," Bolin pouted and coaxed the bird back onto his hand, reluctantly giving the blue pet back over to her owner, "I'll keep my eye out for any other classifieds like the one you showed me and alert you if I find any. In the mean time, I'd like you to keep me up to date on any findings you get on your own. I want in on this, if only a small bit of it."

Korra grinned widely, "Of course, Kuno, we'll update you whenever we can. Thank you for your cooperation and support."

"Yeah, yeah. Now run along, kids."


	11. Girl Problems

Mako had been watching Korra and his brother for the past few days since he had seen that exchange of smiles back at Kuno's place. Of course, he only watched them when they weren't looking, completely from the shadows. There was no way he wanted his little brother to know that he was watching his every move with the Avatar. Asami joined him once she found out what he was doing and why and together they lurked in the shadows and watched, waited. But they never got what they were waiting for and, finally, Mako got fed up and just approached his brother when he was alone and asked him the burning question.

"Have you and Korra kissed yet?"

The tea that Bolin had been casual drinking suddenly found itself sprayed across the table in a fine mist. Coughing, the boy tried to regain his breath and composure after the abrupt question. Pabu, who had been caught in the spray, withered around and fluffed up his coat to try and get the tea off its fur. Bolin coughed once more, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and setting down the cup of tea before he did something worse with its contents.

"I'm sorry, what?" He finally managed to squeak out, staring up at his brother, who was towering over him, as usual.

"You heard me. Have you and Korra kissed yet?"

"What? Why would you want to know that Mako?" He stood up, his forehead furrowed in anger, "What's it to you? You've already got a girlfriend in case you don't remember. Or are you just jealous that Korra and I have been getting closer lately because-"

"It's nothing like that, Bolin. I've just seen the way you two have been acting around each other, sending little smiles between you, lingering touches, and so on. I just genuinely wanted to know if you two had kissed yet or not. No ulterior motives, Bo."

Immediately all the anger disappeared from Bolin's frame as he slumped, embarrassed and ashamed of his uncalled for anger.

"Oh. Sorry, Mako. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine. Just sit down and tell me," Mako said, flopping down on the pile of pillows that substituted as a sofa at the air temple. He patted the pillows next to him and Bolin hesitantly lowered himself down into the pillows next to his brother. It was quiet for a moment before Mako elbowed him in the side to remind him just why they had both settled into the pillows.

"I don't know!" Bolin spit out, holding his head in his hand.

"You don't know if you guys have kissed? What is that supposed to me, Bo? She slipping into your room at night and leaving ghost kisses on your lips and-"

"No, Mako. I meant I honestly don't know what's going on. I don't even know if she likes me or she's just accidently leading me on. She really has no clue how to act around guys, you know? For all I know, she just could be-"

"She's a little ignorant and clueless at times with things, Bo, but she's not completely incompetent."

"Says the guy who kissed her back and lead her on when he already had a girlfriend," Bolin growled and instantly regretted it. What was with him today? He buried his face in his hands again, waiting for the sharp retort from his brother, which he honestly deserved. When it didn't come, he was truly terrified that his brother was silent with rage. His brother moved and he tensed up, but then a comforting hand landed on his back and he relaxed.

"Oh, Bo," Mako's voice sounded so sorry and strained that it hurt Bolin even more, "I really hurt you when I did that, didn't I?"

"Like the tears weren't enough?" Bolin said immediately and groaned as soon as he realized what he had said once again, "Sprits! I'm so sorry, Mako!"

"Don't be. You have a lot on your chest and you need to get it out. It's not good to keep it all inside, remember, Bo?"

"Yeah, I remember, Mako," he felt tears prickling at the back of his eyes, but he blinked furiously to try to stop them from forming. Mako's hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back into his chest, Bolin's head underneath Mako's chin. He felt Mako envelop him in a hug from behind, pulling him even closer against him. Mako tilted his head to nestle his cheek against the top of Bolin's head, letting out a sigh.

"I'm always here if you want to talk, Bolin. About anything. You know that, right?"

Bolin nodded, a hand going up to grip Mako's arms, squeezing them lightly as though to reassure him they were there before he opened his mouth to start, "I don't know if she likes me. She had feelings for you. She even kissed you to show you her feelings. But for me? Nothing. So, I honestly don't know what to think. She hasn't slapped me yet for when I kissed her on cheek, so I guess I have some potential?"

"You kissed her on the cheek? What's so bad about that? It's not like you actually kissed her after she tells you that she's confused."

"No, but I might as well have. I was so close to kissing her, Mako," a tear escape and he harshly smeared it away, "but I chickened out and kissed her on the cheek instead. She's fully away of what my true intentions were at the time."

"I think the fact that she didn't freak out is proof enough," he paused, "She didn't freak out, right?"

"No, she's acting strange around me sometimes, though."

"Things don't seem weird between you two as far as I've noticed," Mako shrugged, "I've kind of been stalking you two lately. Asami even joined in."

Bolin tilted his head back to stare at his brother in confusion, "You what?"

He shrugged again, giving his younger brother a sheepish grin, "I was interested in your two's relationship after Kuno's apartment. It was obvious something was going on between you two and I thought you were having a secret relationship with her or something. Honestly, I was going to be quite angry if that was the case."

"Well it's not, Mako, but I wish it was."

"If you really like her Bolin, you should ask her out on a date again. I hear the last one went really well."

"Wouldn't that be awkward, though?"

"Then just go as friends."

"Didn't you just say that she wasn't incompetent? She'll know that I don't want to go as friends."

"So if she says yes, then she obviously likes you," Mako frowned, "It's really not that hard, Bo."

"I know, but…" he sighed and another tear slid down his cheek, "I just don't want to screw this up, you know? Spirits, I sound like some girly girl," he managed a weak laugh and smeared away the tear.

"You won't, Bo."

"What's with you two?" A third voice made them jump and Bolin sat back up straight, hurrying to make his face dry again. They both turned to see Kuno standing in the doorway of the room, his eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Bolin's having girl problems, which usually leads to him crying like a baby," Mako explained, getting up to greet the waterbender.

"I do not!" Bolin yelled, from the pillows, using his shirt now to dry his face. He just hoped that his eyes weren't red, though he hadn't cried that much, "If anyone cries its… it's Pabu! He works harder than anyone, and you don't give him any love," he pointed a finger at Mako, his eyes narrowing.

Mako just shrugged, "Sure, whatever you say, Bo," turning his attention back to Kuno he asked, "So, what brings you all the way out here?"

"I told you guys I would keep an eye out for anything else in the classifieds that caught my attention," he answered, pulling a section of the newspaper out of his pocket.

Mako frowned, "The staff at the newspaper said they would contact us if anything from Blue Jay showed up again."

"Well it's not from Blue Jay, it's from someone else. This one showed up today and I think you guys should have a look at," he waved the paper for emphasis.

Immediately Bolin stood up, "What does it say, sir?"

"I think it would be best if I told all of you at once."

They all frowned.

They were not going to like the news he was bringing.


	12. A Bird Hiding Amongst Lemurs

Korra squirmed where she was sitting as they waited for Lin to arrive. She had already asked several times if they could just see the clipping already, but Kuno had always given her a curt "no" each time she even opened her mouth. She had a deep frown on her face and he could tell that she just wanted the bad news as soon as possible. Waiting for it was slowly eating at her. Kuno could feel sorry for her for that, but he knew it was for the best that everyone in her little group showed up before they got to look at what was in the newspaper that morning.

Tenzin had admitted to reading the newspaper that morning, but not looking through the classifieds like he usually did, as it seemed Korra had put him on that job, which probably had caused many sighs and eye rolling. Of course, as soon as he had admitted to that, the glare and pout that she had sent his way obviously meant that she was greatly disappointed at him and would probably call him on it many times in the upcoming days. That is, until her humor died. Kuno fingered the cut piece of paper in his pocket, knowing that even though it was such a small, lightweight thing, it would bring a heavy burden down upon this group. He was just upset that he had to be the one to bring it to them.

"She's taking too long!" Korra growled once more, "Let's just-"

"Who's taking too long?" A new voice interrupted Korra even before Kuno could tell her to be quiet like usual. They all turned to see Lin being led into the room by a White Lotus guard, who, upon getting Lin to the right place, bowed politely and left, closing the door back behind them.

"About time you showed up, Lin," Korra said, he eyes snapping over to Kuno with an expression that clearly told him to get on with it already. Lin sat down at the table, shooting Korra one of her own customary expressions, this one a glare caught between annoyance and anger. Those two would probably get along better if they would just stop heckling each other.

"Here, but you're not going to like it," Kuno said, sliding the paper out of his pocket and placing it in the middle of the table. Immediately, they all leaned forward, trying to read the tiny print on it. Kuno backed away, already knowing what was typed on it. Now he would just have to wait to see if they could figure it out on their own. It had been pretty convoluted like the last one, but if they had figured that one out, then there was a chance they would figure out this one on their own.

Korra seemed to be the first one, piecing the previous one to the new one, leaning back from the paper and placing her head in her hands. Her fingers were gripping the sides of her head so tight her knuckles were almost white. Her face was scrunched up and she moved her hands so her palms lay over her eyes, possibly to push back any tears that dared try to come forward. Kuno watched them all, looking over them as they, one by one, realized what the message said.

Once they were all done, Lin reached forward and moved the paper over so it rested in front of her. Her studying green eyes read over the worlds once more before she pushed it away with finality. Out of all of them, she was probably most out of the loop since she didn't reside on the island with the rest of them, and was often off doing her own things now that she wasn't held down by her position in the metalbending police force. A thought flashed through his head of them running though the city stopping bad guys like a couple of vigilantes and he had to cut back the laugh that threatened to rupture in this throat. This really wasn't the time for laughter, especially if the woman was the traitor.

Finally Asami spoke up, "I know you're all thinking it's me-"

"No we're not!" Mako growled, entwining his fingers with hers. It was silent again as Asami looked down at their hands, hers gripping onto his tightly.

"So, if I'm getting what this message is saying, strange as it is, it means-" Lin started to talk.

"Wait, can you read it out loud?" Tenzin asked, rubbing his brow.

With a sigh, she complied, "You're looking in the wrong place. The bird is in the flock of mismatched lemurs."

Korra flinched as though the words had slapped her, curling in on herself.

"As I was saying, this message means that this 'Blue Jay' informant… is on this island because of the lemur metaphor? Why does this concern me, then?"

"It could mean that they're on this island, but it also could mean this group here because of the word 'mismatched.' You all come from different parts of the world, you're all of the bending elements. In a sense, you're 'mismatched,'" Kuno answered her, since he had already had plenty of time to think it over, "Besides, even if you're not part of this 'lemur' group, don't you want to know what's going on?"

She let out a sigh, leaning back a bit and he knew he was correct with that last statement. No matter what, she would want to be in this for the long run. That could almost count her out as a suspect for the meantime.

"The 'lemurs' could also be referring to the White Lotus guards we have station here because, as you said, they are also from different parts of the worlds and bending," Tenzin said thoughtfully. Korra looked up, her lips parted a bit. She probably hadn't even thought of it that way and, for a second, hope bloomed on her face, but then Tenzin continued, "Except members of the Order of the White Lotus are those that are trusted with sharing knowledge and philosophy, not destroying it. They are also the protectors of the Avatar, the picture of bending. It wouldn't make sense-" he stopped as he noticed Korra cover her face again and he struggled to regain his ground, "But, um, it could still be one of them. You never know if, well, one of them has-"

"Tenzin," Korra pleaded softly and he stopped his stuttering, reaching up instead to stroke his beard in a nervous matter. Bolin moved as though to place a hand on her shoulder, but Korra suddenly rose and walked quickly out of the room, her face in shadow. Somehow she even managed to softly shut the door behind her on her way out. It was completely quiet in the room after her departure, and awkward, too. Bolin clenched his fists, seeming to draw strength from it and rose from the table, too, moving to follow Korra.

"Bolin, don't you think it's best for you to give her some time alone?" Tenzin asked, standing up as well.

Bolin halted, his hand on the door. He turned, his eyes seeming to stare Tenzin down, a look that no one had seen on Bolin's face before. Tenzin even took a step back from him unintentionally, his glare so out of place and somehow terrifying.

"Don't you think she's spent enough of her life alone?" He hissed at him, opening the door wide and slamming it shut behind him. Uncomfortable silence fell over them once more. Kuno pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, clearing his throat. He moved to tug on the neck of his garb and awkwardly moved to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lin snapped at him and he stopped, slowly turning to look at them.

"Back home?" He faked a smile.

"No. Sit down."

He immediately did as he was commanded. There was no arguing with this woman if you wanted to keep every part of your body intact. Mako and Asami looked out of place now, their hands still gripped tightly together.

"You two can leave. The rest of us need to discuss this," Lin ordered the two and they got up without protesting, Mako helping Asami up from the ground. The two scurried out of the room and it wasn't until they were sure that they were gone that they began discussing whatever they needed to.

"It's not me," Lin said immediately, "And we can count you out-"

"Kuno."

"We can count Kuno out and it would be ridiculous for you to be the traitor, Tenzin. That just leaves the kids and we can count Korra out. Now that Sato girl, she's the most likely suspect no matter what she says. Her father's an Equalist supporter, so who's to say that it doesn't run in the family?"

"Now, Lin, we can't just start pointing fingers-"

"I'm not. I'm just laying out the facts and it's a fact that her father's an Equalist supporter. Don't you think that it's highly improbable that she didn't know about his activities for all those years? She was close to her father, no one can deny that. But how close remains the question. Now, the brothers were pro-benders, but I suppose that, even then, we can't rule them out as suspects just yet."

"Korra's going to be devastated when the traitor comes forward," Kuno murmured.

"Or she'll be strong."

* * *

Korra furiously wiped away another tear, her sobs too loud for her comfort. She didn't like showing weakness. She was the Avatar, the master of all four elements. She didn't have time to show weakness. She muffled another sob that tore at her throat, burying her face into her knees as she curled her legs up against her chest. The scuff of a foot behind her was the only warning she got that someone had approached her before arms enveloped her, pulling her back into a well-developed chest. Her head was tucked into their neck and she breathed in their scent. Earth and soil, with a faint aroma of moon peaches. Bolin.

She shut her eyes as she felt his callused fingertips brush away the stray tears running down her face and leaned further back into him, comforted by his warmth and support. He didn't say anything, just held her close, giving her silent comfort, exactly what she needed at the moment. He always seemed to know what she wanted when she wanted it and she was grateful for that. Bolin would always be there for her. She reached up, gripping onto his arms tightly, tucking her legs up against herself even more and she felt him nuzzle his nose into her neck. She couldn't help it and let out a laugh.

Bolin backed off a bit, shocked at the noise, but then smiled, "Feeling a little better?"

"Yeah, thanks, Bo. You're a good friend," she knew the word hurt him, but she didn't really know what else to call him. He didn't let it show that it got to him, though, instead he sat down next to her, an arm still curled around her waist, pulling her flush to his side.

"Want to talk now?" He asked, his voice soft. Silent time was over. Now it was time to talk. She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes in frustration. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from her face, "Let them fall. It only means you're human."

She blinked at him in shock, "But I'm the Avatar, I'm supposed to-"

"You're not just the Avatar, Korra. You're also a 17 year old girl, a teenager with emotions and feelings, not just some connection between the spirit world and our world. You're not some stoic, all knowing thing. You're a human being, Korra" the hand around her waist had risen up as he talked, stopping to rest on her shoulder. He gave it a gentle squeeze as he smiled softly, his thumb rubbing slow, relaxing circles on her shoulder. She leaned over, placing her head back in the curve of his neck.

"Thank you, Bolin," she sobbed, curling a hand into the fabric of his shirt, "No one has ever really said that to me before. It's always "Avatar this" and "Avatar that," nothing about "Korra." I just started feeling like maybe that's all I was, just the Avatar, like I have to keep it all in and keep a calm face when facing a storm. But I can't."

"So don't."

She sniffled, wiping her hand over her nose as his thumb continued to rub circles on her shoulder, "But how?"

"Just be yourself."

"But, Bo, when the identity of the informant comes to the surface… what if I can't control my emotions? What if I lash out? I don't want to hurt anyone that I care about. I don't know how to act when the time comes."

"When the time comes just be you, Korra."


	13. Plan of Attack

"We're ready to start our plan, Amon," the Lieutenant said, standing in the ray of sunlight that streamed though the open window while the man he addressed chose to stay hidden in the shadows.

"Good. We've been planning for this day for months. We must make sure that it succeeds. Mistakes will not go unpunished this time around," Amon turned, his hands clasped behind his back, and his mask caught the sunlight, lighting up like he was a greater being, "Get word to our little bird that it's time to set the plan in motion. They may be hesitant at first, still angry that we almost ratted them out, but they'll come around again when we remind them of the cause."

The Lieutenant could hear him smirking behind the mask, "Yes, sir. I'll send the message right away."

He turned and left the room, leaving Amon to go back to staring at the pictures and diagrams on the wall, almost hidden in the shadows beyond the light. All the Equalists he passed in the hallways respectfully turned to the side to allow him room to pass as he maneuvered his way to his destination. He opened it and the woman sitting at the desk jumped, the papers in her hands almost spilling over the floor.

"Ah, Lieutenant, sir! I wasn't expecting you until later this week for when-"

He cut her off, "We're setting our plan into motion sooner than expected. It seems that everything has been falling into place much sooner than we expected."

"Then the Avatar?"

"In complete shambles. She's ready to break, we just have to provide the final push. Send a message to our little bird, let him know we're coming."

"Coming, sir?"

"We're going to attack the city and Air Temple Island."

The woman stared in shock after his retreating form before she knocked herself out of it, muttering to herself as she did so, "Write. Gotta write a note. Now where did I put that- aha!" She picked up her pen triumphantly, then frowned, "Paper. Clean paper."

After much scrambling around through her desk, she finally managed to produce a new sheet of parchment. Of course, she would only need a small piece of it, so she tore a small strip of it off, smoothing it out with her hands so it wouldn't curl up. Hunched over it, she scribbled down the message furiously, her handwriting almost ineligible at this speed, but it would get the job done. She didn't have to time to slowly write on the paper with her flourishing handwriting as she usually did. Once done, she held it to her chest and ran from the room to send it on its way.

* * *

"Bolin! Hey, Bolin! Where are you? I'm going to eat your lunch if you don't answer me, Bolin!" Mako yelled out over the vegetation, watching for any signs of movement that could be his brother.

"Forget you eating his food," Korra growled, "I'm starving and if he doesn't come back now I'm going to freeze him to the ground and eat his food in front of him. See how he likes that. He's making us all wait and my stomach doesn't like waiting."

Tenzin shook his head, letting out a weak, "Korra…"

"I'll go look for him," Mako said, already darting off.

"Great," Korra threw her arms up, "Now we have to wait for both of them to come back before- Hey! I saw you eat that piece of lettuce, Meelo. If I can't eat, then you can't. Spit it out."

Mako moved a branch out of his face as he made his way down the narrow trail. If there was one place Bolin would be, it would be near the animals.

"Bolin!" He yelled again and, finally, he heard a shriek in reply. He turned to see Bolin crouched over something up near the water to his right.

"Spirits, Mako! You scared me!" Bolin said, color coming back to his face as he let out a sigh.

"Well that's what you get for making us wait for lunch."

"It's already lunch time? Sorry, I forgot."

"Nevermind that, what do you have there?" Mako walked forward and Bolin's gaze dropped back down to whatever was in front of him.

"Well, you see, Mako," he picked something up and stood, spinning around with something in his hands, held out in front of him, "Do you think we can keep it?"

Mako blinked in shock, staring at what Bolin was holding. It was a baby turtle duck held out in Bolin's hands. It sat staring at Mako as though it couldn't quite believe where it was. He wondered if it had ever been picked up by a human before.

"Seriously, Bolin?" He glanced behind his brother to see the mother and the rest of her ducklings near the shore, "I don't think its mother would appreciate it."

Right as the words left his mouth, the mother turtle duck attacked, dashing forward with a quack to clamp her bill around Bolin's ankle.

"Ow! Owowowowow!" He screeched, almost throwing the baby turtle duck he had in his hand, but Mako reached out and plucked the startled creature from him, slipping it back into the water. As soon as the duckling reached safety once again, the mother let go and corralled her children away from the shore. Bolin watched them leave with a frown on his face, leaning down to rub his ankle. Mako shook his head with a smirk.

"You should know better than that, Bo. The moms are very protective of their children. I would have thought you had learned your lesson when you tried to pet a duckling when we were kids. Your hand was bruised for days afterward."

"Their cuteness makes me forget," Bolin pouted, making Mako laugh harder.

"They're pretty far from home, aren't they? Guess they came out here to get awa from the city. Can't really blame them. Come on, Bo," he slung an arm over his younger brother's shoulders, "Korra wants to eat and I don't think she's in the best of moods right now."

Bolin's face paled visibly, "Well, in that case, lets head back so Korra doesn't hate me forever because I kept her from her food."

"Good plan."

They walked back just like that, with Mako's arm slung over his brother's shoulders protectively and even though he was dying to ask him how he was doing with Korra now, he kept his mouth shut for the mean time. Bolin would tell him when he was ready to or when he was lost as to what he had to do. But Mako would always be there for him to dig him out of his situation and put him right back on his road. He had hindered their relationship once by kissing Korra back, but now he was going to do whatever he could to make it right again.

When the got back to dinner, he pushed Bolin toward the empty seat near Korra even though he was sending him looks of fear that Korra was going to maim him for making her wait. He sat next to her tensely, but she seemed more preoccupied with the fact that she could eat now more than anything. When meal time came to an end, she practically bounded out of the room.

"Her mood sure does change with food, doesn't it?" Mako noted, watching her leave.

"She also thinks she's found the secret to airbending," Tenzin said, lying the sarcasm on thick and barely managing to not roll his eyes, "Let's see how well that turns out. She may be in an even worse mood later if her 'trick' doesn't work out the way she hoped."

"Great," Bolin sighed, "and she'll probably take it out of me since I was late to lunch."

"Then you better get on her good side now," Mako leaned over, punching his brother teasingly in the shoulder before getting and leaving with Asami's hand held in his. Bolin chewed the inside of his cheek before scurrying out toward the airbending training area. He stayed hidden at first looking out at her from behind some cover. She moved so gracefully when she was trying to airbend. That is, until she got frustrated and started breathing out fire. As she stomped away, he heard Tenzin yell after her about how she had to control her temper more.

He darted out, following her until he realized where she was going, back up to the cliffside where she always went when she wanted to be alone. Well, not always. Sometimes she was with him up there. He blushed at the memories before he could even recall them completely. He just remembered the close proximities they always seemed to share when they came up here. He liked close proximities with Korra. He groaned inwardly as soon as he thought that, stepping out so Korra would see him now.

"Look, if you're here to try to give me some magic trick for airbending, don't bother trying. It won't work."

"No, I'm not- I don't know the first thing about airbending, Korra. My element's the exact opposite of air, remember? I would suck as an airbending teacher or anything of that kind."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you're grumpy and I don't like it when you're grumpy."

She snorted and looked away, giving him the chance to slide up behind her. As soon as she felt his warmth behind her, she unconsciously leaned back into his chest with a sigh. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer.

After what felt like long enough, Bolin dared himself to ask her a question, "So what was you little airbending trick?"

She let out a weak laugh, "Well, you see, I thought that if I pretended that I could feel the air when I moved my hands, that I would actually connect with the air and be able to move it."

"You… never tried that before? That would be the first thing I would try."

She elbowed him roughly in the stomach, "Oh, be quiet. Usually I just tried to punch my way through lessons."

"And life. Don't forget life."

"And don't forget I can easily elbow you in the stomach again."

"Point taken."

She tucked her head back into his neck and they stood in silence for a while, just soaking in each other's presence for the meantime. They could see the airships patrolling the city on the other side of the bay. One of them was drifting out over the bay, making its way to the Air Temple island. Korra noticed it and stood up straight again, peering out at the hulking machine drifting its way over the water.

"I wonder if that's Lin," Korra murmured.

"Maybe she's coming to tell us something?"

"If so, then it's something important enough that she didn't take a boat. I better head back to the house to greet her," she pushed off from Bolin, but he gripped onto her tighter.

"Wait, Korra, I-" he stopped and let his arms drop, glancing away.

She turned to look at him, "Yes?"

He dared to meet her eyes again and then he swooped in, kissing her lightly on the lips. He pulled away and backed off, afraid of what she was going to do, but she did nothing but stare at him in shock. Reaching out, he grabbed onto her upper arm and pulled her close, meeting no resistance as she stared up at him, her mouth still open a bit in shock. He darted forward again, recapturing her lips once more in a deeper kiss, even going so far as to flick his tongue over her bottom lip. Finally, she leaned into him as though she was melting into the kiss. But that didn't last long. An explosion rang out and the ground shook. Immediately they parted, looking about wildly.

"You know, I'm starting to think that Lin isn't on that airship," Bolin gulped as they both watched another attack launched from the airship toward the island. Across the bay, in the city, the other airships were starting to attack the buildings there, too, as well, "In fact, I'm just going to put this out there right now. I don't think that the metalbenders are in command of those ships at all anymore."

"Come on!" Korra yelled, gripping onto his hand and pulling him after her toward the house, which was where the airship was headed. Had they been in a less terrifying situation, Bolin probably would have taken the time to notice that their hands were entwined, their fingers weaved together as they ran toward the house. Another explosion shook the ground and they stumbled, yet managed to keep their pace going. Over the noise, they heard the familiar groan of an flying bison and the creature rose up into the air, the figures of Pema and her children in the saddle. At least they would be safe, Bolin thought.

They dashed out into the clearing in front of the house, where everyone else was already gathering, the White Lotus guards included. All of them were ready to attack when the airship did. Korra and Bolin took their places with them, putting their arms up in a defensive manner. Mako and Asami were whispering to each other and Bolin made out the word 'glove' before Asami darted off, leaving them and disappearing in the direction of the woman's part of the island, where their bedrooms were.

The airship stopped and platforms started to lower, each of them with an Equalist clinging to it. Finally the last one touched ground and Amon nimbly stepped off of it, walking toward the group with his hands behind his back. He looked like he had already won the fight without even having done anything himself. His eyes swept over the group, taking note of everyone there and those who were missing.

"I see my bird got the memo," he finally spoke, "such a smart bird, that one is."

"Who? Who is Blue Jay?" Korra screamed, taking a step forward to punch fire at him. Amon spun out of the way, his masked smiled almost taunting her.

"Who do you think, Avatar? I thought you were at least smarter than this. You can't even figure out which one has sold you out. It should be easy to know it now. Or maybe it's just me," he was mocking her again. Bolin frowned, looking over the rest of the group. They all looked ready to attack, but Korra was the only one that had done so so far. They others saw no need to attack since they others had not attacked first. But Bolin knew that the only way to win again the Equalists was to get them first.

He slammed his feet solidly down on the ground and threw up his arms. Immediately rock rose from the ground, encasing several Equalists where they stood. Four down, only seven more to go. He was about to do the same thing again, when he heard Korra yell his name, snapping him back to attention. Amon was sprinting toward him, dodging all the other attacks. Bolin slung a few rocks at Amon, aiming for his limbs to incapacitate him, but there was no point. The man simply moved as though they weren't there at all. Amon's right hand darted out, two fingers outstretched, and jabbed him in the neck. Immediately the world went black and he fell to the ground. The last thing he heard was Korra yelling his name once more, her voice laced with frenzied concern, before he fell unconscious.


	14. Captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should have the big reveal. Hopefully.

Korra woke up to the sound of a closing door and stirred to her feet. Or at least tried to. Her limbs still felt heavy, refusing to move at her command. She glanced around weakly and saw that she was in a wooden cell. A groan caught her attention and her gaze flickered down off the door and to the floor, where she could see the rest of her friends lying on the ground. Tenzin, Lin, Bolin, and Mako were there, locked in the cell with her. Where was Asami? Had they captured her or was she the mole all- no. She couldn't think that way. Asami had promised and she had trusted her. The groan came again and this time Tenzin stirred, weakly trying to push himself up to a sitting position. Korra rolled onto her stomach and finally managed to push herself up. Tenzin rubbed the back of his head and looked around, his eyes meeting hers in the dark.

"Where are we?" She whimpered and he only shook his head in reply before he moved to wake up Lin.

Korra scooted over to Mako, shaking his shoulder lightly. He woke immediately, his eyes blinking open in the dark. Running a hand over his face, he glanced up at her, his body relaxing as he recognized her. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before she moved toward Bolin. By now Lin was sitting up, stretching her limbs and looking all around for anyway they could make an exit, but they had removed all metal from the vicinity. Bolin was breathing as if he was just sleeping in his own bed, though the slight clench of hands every once in a while and whines that escaped from his mouth let her know that it was not a happy sleep.

She cradled his head up into her lap, running a hand down the side of his face to try and gently rouse him. A presence fell over her and she turned to see Mako kneeling behind her, staring over her shoulder at his little brother. She turned back and leaned down, murmuring Bolin's name. He stirred in his sleep, his brow furrowing for a moment, but his eyes didn't open. Mako sighed and reached around her, slapping his brother lightly on the cheek. When that didn't work, he just slapped his brother harder. Finally Bolin's eyes snapped open and he jolted up, his forehead almost colliding with Korra's chin on the way up, but she snapped back at the last second.

He blinked once at the back wall before he turned to look at them, "I just had a horrible dream that-" he stopped, his eyes taking in their surroundings and his features instantly sagged as he came to the horrible conclusion and a sound of defeat left his lips, "Oh."

Shuffling away, he sat up more fully and let his eyes travel over all of them before he blurted out the question that was on all their minds, "Where is Asami?"

Mako glanced down at his hands, running his fingers over the fabric of his gloves, "She never came back to the fight," he finally said softly, "She said that she was going to go get her glove so she would be of more help in the fight, but she never came back."

"Because she's a traitor," Lin said, running a hand over one of the walls of the cell, still looking for any metal in the materials, but finding none.

"Lin," Tenzin said with a warning tone and Mako stood up so he was no longer beneath her, his brow furrowed in anger.

"You don't trust anyone, do you?" He hissed, stalking forward, "You don't trust anyone but yourself. No wonder you're so alone. Who do you have in your life? No one. I wonder why that is? Tenzin used to be in your life, but now he's nowhere near it. What exactly did you do to make him run away? Why exactly do you want no one in your life? Is it because you're afraid of getting hurt, of-"

"That is enough out of you, young man," Tenzin suddenly bellowed, air blustering around him, accenting his words, "You know nothing about our past. You have no right to-"

"And you have no right to call Asami a traitor. You don't know her like I do, you haven't even taken the time to speak to her, let alone know her. She was devastated after the incident with her father. She was quiet for days, just stared out into nothing. She hardly even acknowledged me! But then she came back, she could her resolve. And when she came back, she came back stronger, better than she had before. She came back with a resolve to find out why her father did what he did and to stop the Equalists at any cost. So don't any of you act like you know her to way I do."

His fist was on fire and his eyes glinted like flames themselves as he glared both of the older adults down, daring them to say another word. Korra and Bolin just watched in shock, neither of them wanting to get in the way of these two, in fear they would be caught in the crossfire.

"If you truly want to know why Tenzin and I fell out, then I shall tell you," Lin stepped forward and placed a hand on Tenzin's chest. He was still frowning, but the air around him stilled, "It was because we wanted different things in life. He wanted kids, to save the Airbenders from extinction. I wasn't ready for kids. I never was, never will be. The reason I think your girlfriend is the traitor is because of her father. She had the closest ties to the Equalist and I'm sure they can say something, show her something to get her on their side."

The flames on Mako's fist flickered and died, his stance relaxing a bit, but his shoulders were still drawn back and his face was still pinched in anger. They stared at each other for the longest of times while Korra and Bolin climbed to their feet, their fingers entwined without them realizing it. Finally Mako growled and looked away, walking to the far wall to lean against it, his arms folded across his chest. He kept his eyes down, he gaze locked on the floor.

"Tenzin," Bolin finally spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Your family… are they-"

"I got them out of there in time. They're fine."

A relieved sigh left Bolin in a whoosh. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, having been knocked out by Amon so early in the fight. Really, with the time he had been in it, he didn't think he could even call the encounter a fight. More like him stopping a few Equalists, then getting his butt whooped in seconds. He wiggled his fingers, then glanced down in shock as he realized that he was holding Korra's hand. She looked down, too, at the sensation of his moving fingers and a slight blush blossomed on her cheeks, but she tightened her hand around his, leaning over against him. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, relishing in his warmth for the moment. He leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes as well.

Mako glanced him, his eyes drifting over to his brother and Korra. When he saw them standing next to each other, hand in hand, eyes closed in mutual comfort, he couldn't stop the small smile that quirked the corners of his lips. So they had finally just gotten together, huh? It had taken Korra long enough to see Bolin's feelings. He looked away from them and out through the front of the cell. He could see the door leading into the room their cell was in. The entire room they were in was made of wood. He could try and burn their way out, but they room would easily go up in flames if he tried, and he didn't want to hurt anyone.

Bolin's free hand was twitching, flexing and relaxing at odd intervals. It was a nervous straight he had developed over the years. He snapped his eyes open again, taking in the scene in front of him, before he looked out of the corner of his eyes at Korra, leaning against him, her eyebrows drawn together. He reached up, running his fingers lightly down the opposite side of her face, watching the tension drain out of her by his touch as she slouched against him even more, her face pressed into his bicep.

"Korra," his whispered, but his voice was loud in the quiet air and the others shifted at the noise, glancing over at the two of them for a second before returning to their own thoughts.

She tilted her head up to look at him, "Yeah, Bo?"

He leaned down, his nose brushing against her cheek as his lips met hers. She melted into him, turning to bring an arm up, fisting his shirt in her free hand. This kiss was soft and sweet, full of unspoken words and emotions swept inside. Just from the feel of her lips and the grip of her hands, he could feel the unbridled terror brewing inside her. He pressed his hand against the small of her back, rubbing circles into her shirt with his thumb. She relaxed further, pulling her lips from his and snuggling into his chest, her face pressed against the side of his neck. He felt her eyes close again and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, their fingers still tangled together.

They stayed like that for a while, just using the other as support and comfort. Everyone in the cell knew there was no way out of this place until one was presented to them. Without even having to exchange words, they all knew they would have to jump the Equalists that entered the room eventually to get them out. Korra was already itching for a fight and, as she pressed up against Bolin. Last time she had been locked up, she had been alone and terrified. But now she had everyone with her. She wasn't quite sure yet whether that was a good or bad thing. Only time would tell.

 


End file.
